Living the Life of a Pro
by katalina0525
Summary: This is basically what happens in the 3rd season of the SSX Circuit, starting with the very 1st day. Im REALLY bad @ summaries, but I DO accept anonymous reviews! Told from Allegra's perspective, btw
1. Chapter 1

**Part One: Rookies**

**Chapter One**

It was the moment they had all been waiting for.

After weeks and weeks of training and practice, and after countless hours of being monitored by event organizers, they could now relax. All of their hard work was over, and the time to choose SSX's four new rookies had finally come. All 251 contestants sat huddled together in a set of bleachers, shivering, not because it was – 3 degrees out, but because of what was about to happen.

In just a few minutes, Larry LaPierre -commissioner of the SSX snowboard league-would step up to the podium centered in front of the bleachers, and announce to them all who the four new SSX competitors would be. The contestants in the bleachers were talking loudly amongst themselves, discussing who they thought would be chosen.

"I know it's me!" a brunette girl shouted over all the rapid chatter to the boy sitting next to her. "I have to be one of the four! I've worked so hard, and I've been snowboarding for _10_ _years_. That's longer than most the people here, you know. My coach says he's _positive_ I'll be picked!"

The boy secretly rolled his eyes. He'd been annoyed by her ever since the second she sat down. "Yeah, well there's a lot of really good contestants," he told her. "I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"Yeah? Well you know what? I heard that the event organizers chose two guys and two girls this year in order to make the selection even. You know, so it won't look like they were being sexist or anything." She clapped her gloves together excitedly. "Oh, I just _know_ I'm going to be one of the girls that get picked! What about you? Do you think you'll get picked?"

The boy shrugged casually. "Dunno, maybe. Truthfully, I've always been more of a skier than a boarder. See, my parents are ski instructors up on Big Mountain, and when I heard that that's where SSX is gonna be held this year, I literally _ran_ to sign up. I've wanted to join SSX for years, but my parents always said no, because it required world travel. Now that it's all in one place, I'm here, baby!"

The girl smiled. "Well, like I said, it's a no brainer that I'm gonna get picked. But then that means they need one more girl. Quite honestly, though, I haven't seen any other girl here but me with real talent. I dunno, maybe they'll just decide to make me the only girl that gets chosen-, "

"This one girl I saw yesterday was _on_ _fire_," the boy cut her off. "I'm totally serious, there is no _way_ that she's not gonna get picked."

The girl frowned, obviously angry that someone other than her had stood out to him. "Who?" she demanded. "I mean, what'd she look like?"

"Well she had her hair all twisted on separate sides or whatever," the boy began telling her.

The girl rolled her eyes. "_Braids_," she corrected him.

"Right, braids. Anyway, she had this really kick ass look on her face while she was riding, like she was gonna kill anybody who even tried to get in her way. It was actually very intimidating, even from my perspective. She had some awesome moves, too, ones I've never seen before, almost like she invented them herself or something. She was what I would call amazing."

"_Oh_." The girl rolled her eyes again. "You must be talking about _Allegra Sauvagess_! Yeah, I know her. Freckled girl, right? Red hair?"

The boy was nodding as she asked him.

"Yeah, I've seen her, too," the girl went on. "And she's good, don't get me wrong, she's but nowhere near as good as _me_! Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"Oh _really_?" a high, confident sounding voice spoke from behind. "And what makes you so sure?"

The girl spun around, and was shocked to see Allegra Sauvagess, sitting right behind them. She'd been there the whole time, no doubt listening to every word they'd been saying about her.

"Because I _am_ better than you!" the girl spat. "And besides, I heard some of the coaches talking about you. They said you're only 17, and there's no way they're gonna let an inexperienced 17-year-old into SSX! _No_ way!"

Allegra smiled, feeling not angry, but amused. "Inexperienced, huh?" she said. "They let Mac Fraser into SSX when he was 15. And Kaori Nishidake when she was 16! So don't even give me shit like 'you're too young.' Besides, you can't be that much older than me. How old are you, 18?"

The girl said nothing, and just turned away with a dark scowl on her face. The boy, on the other hand, smiled at Allegra, and extended his hand.

"'Sup? I'm Viggo Rolig."

Allegra took his hand and shook it. "And I'm Allegra Sauvagess. But I guess by the sounds of it, you already knew that. Oh my gosh, aren't your hands cold?"

She had to ask. Everyone sitting around them was wearing ski gloves, and she'd noticed almost immediately that he was the only one that didn't have any on. And with the constant dropping temperature there outside, she was beginning to wonder if the blood in his hands had completely frozen over.

But to her surprise, Viggo shrugged and said, "Nah, it's cool. I'm used to being in these temperatures. I've lived here up on Big Mountain for the last couple of years, actually. My parents are-,"

"Ski instructors, I know," Allegra cut him off. "I heard you say that. Wow, that's really weird, I didn't know cold weather was something you could actually _adapt_ to. I've lived in southern Colorado my whole life. This constant colds gonna take a while for me to get used to."

She shivered, remembering how warm it was back home. She couldn't _stand_ being cold! Why had she agreed to try out for SSX again? Oh yeah, because her dad had thrown a fit the night she came home screaming after falling off her skateboard down at the park. She'd broken her right wrist, and the pain had been almost unbearable.

"Allegra, I just don't know what I'm going to do with you!" her dad had yelled, roughly examining her wrist. "You put this upon yourself, you know, every single time you get on that damn skateboard. Do you know how lucky you are that it was just your wrist?"

"Dad!" Allegra had screamed. "It's _broken_! We have to go to the ER and have it put in a cast!"

_Seriously, _she thought, gritting her teeth so that she wouldn't scream again. _What kind of Dad is he?_

"You really don't deserve to be taken to the ER," her dad had said to her. "I should make you drive there yourself."

Allegra was appalled. "_Dad_! I CAN'T! He-llo, my wrist is _broken_!"

"I know it's broken," he snapped. "You've made that perfectly clear ever since the second you walked in the door. And yes, I'm going to drive you to the ER, even though I feel like you really don't deserve the act of kindness. But, Allegra, this was stupid. This was very, _very_ stupid. I can't stress to you how stupid this was. I just wish you would find another sport. Skateboarding is way too dangerous. Next time, it'll be something other than your wrist. It'll be your whole arm, or your leg, or worse, your skull."

Allegra thrust her throbbing wrist in his face. "Yeah, uh huh, okay, we'll talk about it later Dad, but right now we should _really_ think about getting to the ER!"

That had been the start of it. Then about 3 months later, Allegra finally gave in and agreed to cut back on her skateboarding and try another sport for a while…

…_Snow skiing_.

She was disgusted just by the thought of it. What was so fun about attaching two skinny little skis to your feet and using poles to maneuver yourself through the snow? _Nothing_, in Allegra's opinion. But her dad had insisted she try it.

"We're in Colorado, we've got plenty of snow year round in the mountains!" he'd exclaimed. "Skiing is so much fun Allegra, why don't you drive to a ski resort up in the mountains sometime and give it a try? Trust me. You won't be disappointed."

So just to make him happy, she went. She drove her dad's car up to the nearest ski resort, asking herself the whole way there what the hell she was doing.

_Humoring Dad, _she constantly reminded herself. _That's all I'm doing. I can just go home after this and tell him I hate skiing, and then that'll be the end of it. I'm free to skateboard again. In fact, I don't even have to ski at all. I can just sit around and drink some hot cocoa. They've got to have a little lodge or coffee shop somewhere around the ski lifts._

When she got to the resort, she already saw a few skiers. There were groups of little kids on the bunny hills, falling and laughing every few feet. This was obviously the first time most of them had ever tried skiing.

_If you think you're going to see me doing that, you've so got to be joking, _Allegra thought, entering the lodge where ski lift tickets were sold.

"Well hi there!" the woman at the front desk exclaimed almost the second after she'd stepped inside. "One ticket for the ski lift?"

Allegra paused a moment to examine a rack of ski coats near the front door. Even if she wasn't going to be a skier, she could still use a nice coat. "Actually," she said, looking closer at a white and red colored one. "I was just wondering if you had a place where I could get some …"

She stopped, immediately letting go of the coat she'd been looking at. All of her attention was now focused on the object hanging in the left window of the lodge. She stood there for a few moments, staring at it, wondering why she hadn't thought of it before.

"Say," she finally said to the woman at the desk. "You rent out ski equipment, right?"

The woman nodded. "Sure do. Poles, boots and everything."

"Well what about snowboard equipment?"

The woman shook her head. "Nope, sorry, we quit doing that 2 years ago. People just couldn't stop breakin' our boards, although I think a good portion of it was vandalism. But to make a long story short, no. Owner got sick and tired of buying new boards."

Allegra grinned. "Well how much do you want for that one in the window?"

And that was the day. It was the day that Allegra finally discovered that her true sport wasn't skateboarding after all. It was snowboarding.

She bought the orange and white board that was sitting in the lodge window, and she instantly knew-once she had it strapped to her feet-that she could do it. This was something that she _knew _she would be able to get good at, if she was given the chance. That day she tore up the slopes practicing, and she promised herself she wasn't going to let anyone stop her from getting better. Not even her dad. Oh, he wouldn't be happy about it, since snowboarding is just like skateboarding on snow, but she didn't care. He had said she could choose any sport but skateboarding.

_So there ya go, Dad, _she thought. _Call it an appeasement. _

Weeks afterward, she found that she was right. She _was_ an exceptional snowboarder! And she didn't want to sound full of herself, but she knew by then that snowboarding was something that was going to just come to her naturally. She could tell by the way she compared herself to other first time boarders. She could do so many of the things they couldn't, including the ability to get up in the air and perform tricks!

She spent the next year and a half working hard to improve, and drove up to the mountains so often that it drove her dad crazy.

"When I said find a new sport," he said to her, "I didn't mean you need to obsess over it!"

But she did. She worked harder than she'd ever worked for anything in all her life, and became so skilled that one day, while she was out boarding and showing off tricks, a strange man approached her. He was wearing a black winter jacket, but to Allegra, he looked very out of place walking around in the mountains. How had he gotten up there anyway? You were only allowed to use the ski lifts if you had a board or skis, and he definitely didn't have either.

Allegra quickly stopped on her board so that she wouldn't run into him. Bits of ice and snow flew everywhere as she did.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized. "Um, are you looking for some-,"

"I believe I'm looking for you," he quickly cut her off. "That is, if you are Allegra Sauvagess."

Allegra frowned. "That's me."

"Well I'm Scott Speirs, an event organizer for SSX. Have you ever heard of SSX?"

Allegra shook her head. "Uh, no. Should I?"

Allegra could've sworn she saw him roll his eyes.

"SSX is a professional snowboard league consisting of 15 competitors," he explained. "The competitors in SSX compete for the gold medal on the newest and most advanced snowboard race tracks in the world. This year the SSX circuit is short 4 competitors, and my sources have told me that you would be a good candidate to fill one of those spots."

Allegra froze, feeling dazed for a moment. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, and she instantly wondered if it could be a scam.

_A professional snowboard league? Pssh, I'm no dope, _she thought to herself. _This guy can't be for real._

"So…" she started, not really knowing what she should say. "You want…_me, _to join this…uh, SSX?"

He looked like he was going to roll his eyes again. "Yes, my sources have told me that you would make an excellent SSX competitor."

Allegra took another moment to think about this. _Whoa_. This was way, _way_ too good to be true. How was she going to figure out if he was tricking her or not? Maybe she should ask him a couple of questions before she agreed? She could only hope that he _wasn't_ tricking her! The opportunity to compete on a professional level was like a dream come true to her.

"This isn't a joke," the man interrupted her thoughts, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "I've got papers and everything for you. The woman at the ski lift lodge is holding them for me, if you're interested."

Allegra nodded. _Okay, I guess I'll buy it…for now. _

"All right," she said. "Would you like me to meet you down there right now?"

"Yes, that would be great," he said. "I have a snowmobile, would you like a ride back down?"

"Uh, no thanks," Allegra quickly said. "I'll just board down."

When she got back down to the lodge, she saw once and for all that she wasn't being tricked. The papers were all there, ready for her to sign and fill out.

"Oh, this is so exciting!" the woman at the front desk kept saying as Allegra sat down and begin to fill everything out. "I can't believe an SSX competitor is being drafted _in my_ _ski lodge_!"

Allegra stopped writing for a moment to look at her. She was going absolutely nuts!

_SSX must really be a big deal, _she thought, grinning to herself.

Scott Speirs quickly corrected her. "She hasn't been drafted yet," he said. "She's just signing up for tryouts. By the looks of it, though, she's got a very good chance of making it."

When Allegra was finally done filling out everything, Scott Speirs told her good-bye, and that she would be getting a phone-call in the next 24 hours from another event organizer.

"They'll tell you when tryouts are," he said. "Also-they'll explain this to you over the phone, but I'll just tell you now-there's a 3 week long snowboarding camp before hand that helps train and prepare you for tryouts. You don't have to go, but most people do. Well, I've done my part. Good luck Allegra, hope to see you on the circuit!"

"Hold on!" Allegra exclaimed just as he was about to walk out the door. She _couldn't _let him leave without asking. "I was just wondering…who, exactly, called in and told you that I would make a good SSX competitor?"

She'd been wondering ever since he told her, but hadn't thought to ask until now.

Scott smiled. It was the friendliest he'd looked in the past hour or so that she'd known him.

"That," he said, "is something that I _can't_ tell you."

Allegra frowned, feeling somewhat let down. "What? Why not?"

He was still smiling. "If the person wants to tell you someday, then they will. Otherwise, I can't say anything. Good luck!"

And then he was gone.

Feeling rather irked, Allegra flipped open her cell phone and called her dad at work.

"Dad!" she exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement. "You will not _believe_ what just happened…"


	2. Chapter 2

Part One: Rookies (cont.)

Chapter Two

Now, sitting in the freezing cold bleachers with Viggo and whatever that girl's name was, Allegra felt amazed by her own story. In just a little over 2 years, she'd become a near professional athlete! It was truly incredible for her to be here.

_And it's all thanks to whoever called and gave that Scott Speirs guy my name, _she thought. _I owe them big._

That's when Larry LaPierre finally stepped away from the two event organizers he'd been talking to, and came up to the podium. The candidates in the bleachers immediately began to quiet down as he took the microphone and started flicking it on and off.

"Good, it works," he said, smiling out at his audience. "Welcome, everyone, to the start of the 3rd annual SSX circuit! Now before I announce the 4 new additions to the circuit-because I know you're all just _dying_ to know-I'd like to introduce you to our current competitors. Some of you may know them by name, some of you may not, but in any case, I'm going to invite them to come up one by one."

He extended his hand toward another set of bleachers, which were only occupied by 11 people.

"First off, from the UK, is Moby Jones."

A black man with his hair braided very close to his scalp stepped off the bleachers, ran up to the podium, and snatched the microphone. All 251 candidates began to cheer loudly, including Allegra. She'd taken the time to do some research on the current SSX competitors, and she knew that 25-year-old Moby was one of the best veterans on the circuit.

"Hey there, how's it goin' SSX fans? I'm Moby Jones," Moby said in his unmistakable British accent. "Are y'all excited about the launch of the 3rd circuit?"

Everyone cheered even louder.

"Awesome!" Moby exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. "Now I know some of you might not like it all bein' on one mountain this year, but take it from your mate Moby Jones. I've seen the tracks. They're awesome, they're killer, and this is gonna go down in the books as the most INSANE SSX season ever! Well that's all for me. Good luck to all of you, and stay warm, mates!"

There's was more cheering, but it quickly died down as Moby handed the microphone back to Larry LaPierre.

"Next," he said, "is your crowd favorite… Zoe Payne!"

This time, everyone went _nuts_! An extremely muscular woman (_too_ _muscular_, Allegra immediately thought) with short black and red dyed hair literally jumped up out of the bleachers. She put her hands up in the air, enjoying the cheers, and practically jammed (even though no music was playing) all the way up to the podium next to Larry and Moby. Larry hesitated a moment to give her the microphone, and Allegra wondered why.

_Maybe he's worried she's drunk, _she thought. _Cause she sure looks it!_

But that's when Zoe jumped up again, and did an amazing aerial back flip. The crowd went crazy, and Zoe made a sloppy bow as she stepped away from Larry and back with Moby.

"Moby said it all, you can get on with the intros, Larry," Zoe said, pushing the microphone he was offering her away.

Allegra felt her eyes widen in surprise after hearing Zoe's voice. She heard Viggo let out a snicker, and he turned around to face her.

"Damn, she sounds like a freakin' _man_!" he muttered. "I heard somewhere that she's in love with Psymon Stark, but still. Just _look_ at her! I wonder if she's completely straight-,"

"Shhh!" the brunette girl hissed, giving Viggo a jab in the arm with her elbow. "Cut it out."

Allegra just grinned to herself. She'd been thinking the exact same thing Viggo had, actually.

"Next," Larry continued, "is our Canadian bombshell, Elise Riggs!"

This time, only the guys in the bleachers seemed to react, and Allegra soon saw why. A blonde woman (bottle blonde, Allegra figured) stepped slowly up to the podium, waving gracefully at her fans She gave off a vibe that would lead almost anyone to believe that she was full of herself.

Allegra grimaced. Already she found herself disliking Elise Riggs. She is so enjoying this, she thought, disgusted. You can tell by the look on her face! God I can't stand girls like her…

Viggo interrupted her thoughts, letting out an extremely loud and high whistle.

"She is _so_ hot!" he said to Allegra, as if she didn't already know what he thought of Elise. "I swear to God, if I get drafted-,"

"I read her profile, Viggo, she's 24," Allegra cut him off, rolling her eyes. "And I'm guessing that's a lot older than you."

"I'm 19!" Viggo exclaimed. "Five years, that's all that's separating us is five years! Don't even tell me that two people with a five year age difference haven't gone out before-,"

"Will you _shut up_?" Allegra and the brunette girl both shouted at the same time. Allegra stared at the girl for a moment in surprise. Amazing. For once, they'd actually found something they could both agree on.

_But I still don't like her, _Allegra thought grudgingly.

Up at the podium, Elise chose not to speak, either, so Larry continued.

"And next we've got our-,"

"Yo! Just call us both out at the same time," a voice interrupted Larry.

Larry nodded to a face in the bleachers. "All right, Mac. Next we've got our two inseparable veterans, Mac Fraser, and all the way from Japan, Kaori Nishidake!"

The audience cheered again as both a guy and a girl stepped up to the podium together. Allegra immediately recognized the girl as Kaori Nishidake, because she'd read a lot about her in the old SSX stats she'd been able to get her hands on.

Kaori smiled brightly at everyone, let out her famous laugh, and made her fingers into the "peace" sign. Mac, not leaving her side, laughed too and made the "gangsta" sign to the audience, which resulted in more cheering, especially from the girls.

Allegra was no exception. She found herself momentarily paralyzed, unable to even clap her hands. She could only gape.

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't _believe_ she'd never seen Mac Fraser before! After all those hours she'd spent reading up on the SSX veterans, why hadn't she ever taken two seconds to just look at a picture of Mac? She'd only read about him, _never_ had she thought to look at a photo!

_He is so hot! _she couldn't help thinking to herself. _Oh my God..._so_ hot! If-and when- I get drafted, I'm gonna have a hell of a time trying to concentrate with him around all the time!_

"Don't get too hopeful," Viggo piped, mocking the tone Allegra had used earlier when she'd informed him of Elise's age. "He's already publicly announced he's gonna marry Kaori Nishidake someday."

"_What_?" Allegra shouted, feeling her eyes widen. "I didn't read that anywhere! Uh, I mean…what makes you think I like him, Viggo? Huh?"

Viggo just snickered, and turned back around.

"And next is one of my personal favorites…Psymon Stark!" Larry LaPierre practically shouted the name into the microphone.

The man that stepped up to the podium next was about the craziest looking guy Allegra had ever seen. He had tall, brown hair that was spiked up _very_ high, almost like a pinecone. He also had sideburns, and as an added bonus, he had piercings _all_ around. On his lips, eyebrows, nose…she didn't even want to _know _where else.

The guy literally looked like he came straight out of a circus!

"_That's_ Psymon?" Viggo exclaimed, turning around to face Allegra again. "Dude, what the hell?"

"What the hell what?" Allegra said, frowning.

"_Look_ at him! I've never seen a guy that freaky looking…okay, okay, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he and Zoe _are_ a perfect match. You know what they say. The freaks go with the freaks."

"Viggo shut up," Allegra snapped. "From what I read about them in their profiles, they're both very nice people."

"That's just another thing they say about freaks. They are _always_ deceiving."

Allegra raised an eyebrow. "You know what, Viggo? If you get drafted into SSX, maybe I should tell both Zoe and Psymon all you've said about them in the past few minutes. I bet Psymon would kick your ass quick. Man, that'd be funny!"

She wasn't mad that he was talking meanly about Zoe and Psymon, but come on. He was being just plain immature.

And yet…she found herself starting to like this 19-year-old annoying and _very_ immature guy. Not that she would ever date him, of course, but already she found herself growing to like him as a good friend, despite the fact that she hadn't known him for very long.

It would be a shame if he didn't get drafted; Allegra knew she would definitely miss him. But really, what were the chances of them _both_ getting drafted? _Pssh, about a million to one, _Allegra thought.

Unlike the others, Psymon accepted the microphone. As he took it, Viggo nudged Allegra and muttered, "Now we get to hear the second freaks voice."

Allegra kicked him, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Heeey! Wazz up?" Psymon said, his eyes bugging out a little as he spoke.

Everyone in the stands went crazy.

"I just wanna say to y'all that if ya get drafted…DON'T get in my way! I'm the vet…you're just a buncha puny little rookies! I'm the big guy, you're the little guy, deal with it or I'll KNOCK YOUR BLOCK OFF! But by all means…welcome to the SSX circuit!"

Larry LaPierre laughed, not seeming to find Psymon's words at all inappropriate, and took the microphone back from him. He waited a few moments for the clapping to die down.

"Well, I was right. He didn't sound normal at all either," Viggo reported, turning to Allegra again. "That was just plain creepy. Maybe I _don't_ want to get drafted now. I mean did you hear what he just said? He'll probably end of murdering one of the rookies!"

Allegra just rolled her eyes, as if to say 'yeah right'. Viggo shrugged, and muttered, "He looks like the type."

"Next on the list," Larry immediately went on, "is our lovely Marisol Diez Delgado!"

Just like with Elise, only the guys in the audience reacted. A pretty blonde Latino woman stepped up to the podium, and she smiled at the audience. For some reason, Allegra didn't feel a natural dislike towards her like she had with Elise. Marisol seemed nice, and a lot less full of herself.

Marisol went and stood off to the side of the podium with the other competitors, and waited with Larry for the whistling and shouting (mostly whistling, of course) to stop.

"And now here's another one of my personal favorites," Larry finally went on. "Eddie Wachowski, otherwise known as 'The Kid.'"

Allegra clapped along with the rest of the audience as a guy with a fro stepped up to the podium. Allegra thought both his fro and his clothes looked ridiculous. They were _hippie _style for crying out loud, he even had a peace medallion hanging around his neck! Still, she couldn't help but smile. The guy had some real character to him.

Right as the clapping started to die down, Allegra heard Elise shout, "yeah!" at the top of her lungs so that everyone would hear. At first Allegra wondered why the hell she'd done that. (To get attention, maybe?). But then she saw Eddie run over and hug her, and then she understood. Eddie was her riding partner.

_Wow, I didn't know there was such a strong bond between riding partners, _Allegra thought. _If- and when- I get drafted, I hope they give me a good riding partner. At least one I can tolerate. _

"All right contestants," Larry said. "Only 3 more competitors to introduce, and then I announce which four of you will be the new additions to the SSX circuit!"

There was shouting, cheering, clapping, stomping on the bleachers…everything you could possibly think of. Allegra was one of the ones stomping their feet, and so was Viggo. Only he was making more of a scene, of course.

"C'mon Allegra!" he exclaimed, standing up. "Join me!"

Allegra smiled in amusement, and shouted over the noise, "Join you in what?"

"In my craziness of course! C'mon, it's a party, stand up!"

Still smiling, she was about to stand up, but that's when someone suddenly grabbed her left arm and pulled her down. Turning just in time, she saw that it was the brunette girl.

"There's really no point getting too into it," she shouted in Allegra's ear. "In just a few minutes you and him are both going to find out you didn't make it."

Allegra gritted her teeth in anger. Who did this girl think she was, talking to her like this?

_I've never even done anything to her, and yet she's treated me like crap ever since the second I met her! _She thought furiously. _I swear, if the SSX event organizers weren't standing all around, I would kick her ass right here, right now._

"Pssh, what're you gonna do, redhead?" the brunette girl went on, noticing Allegra's increasing anger.

"Take your little face and grind it into the snow, that's what," Allegra fumed, even though she didn't really mean it. Well, she _did_ mean it…she just wasn't going to do it here.

The girl laughed a little. "Yeah, right. If you hurt me here, you won't ever be allowed to try out for SSX again."

"You just go ahead and use that to your advantage," Allegra said, although it wasn't loud enough to be heard over all the noise.

That's when Viggo suddenly stepped in.

"Whoa, there girls," he said, eyeing the brunette girl in particular. "Calm... the... _crap_... down!"

Allegra and the other girl just continued to eye each other. There was clearly rage behind Allegra's eyes, but the brunette just looked amused.

"Okay…" Viggo started again, but that's when Larry's voice thundered, "Quiet down! Quiet down!" out of the speakers.

Immediately, everyone hushed. Allegra even forgot for a moment that she was mad at the brunette girl, and turned to look at Larry.

"Thank you, I know you're all excited," he said. "But keep your shirts on, because we're almost there."

In a split second, Viggo nudged Allegra. "As if we're going to take our shirts for any reason anytime soon. What, when it's…" He glanced at the temperature on his digital watch. "Frickin' negative four degrees out! Not that I'm complaining, but-,"

"All right," Larry interrupted him. "Next I'd like to introduce competitor, Jean Paul-known by all as JP-Arsenault from Paris, France!"

The crowd clapped, and Allegra watched as a blonde guy wearing sunglasses stepped up to the podium. He was wearing a red and black checkered jacket that made him look almost like Spiderman. Allegra had forgotten how old he was, but now as she strained her eyes to try and estimate, she realized that there was no way she could tell. His sunglasses were too big and too dark.

"All righty then," Larry said. "Now give it up for returning rider, Seeiah Owens!"

The crowd continued to clap as a black woman wearing all purple literally danced on up to the podium. (And once again, no music was playing.) Allegra saw Marisol run up and give her a high five, so she immediately figured that they were riding partners as well.

"You know, Larry called Seeiah a 'returning rider' because everyone thought she wasn't coming back this year," Viggo turned around to inform Allegra. "The SSX Circuit even had a good-bye party for her and everything. She said she was going to move to-,"

"Viggo, nobody gives a shit," the brunette girl snapped.

_All right, that's it, _Allegra thought, furious. _She's crossed _my_ line!_

Allegra clenched her right hand into a tight fist, and drew her arm back, ready to hit her.

But before she could strike, she felt someone clutch her arm. Turning to her right, she saw that it was Viggo. He'd jumped up a row on the bleachers, and was now sitting next to her instead of the brunette girl.

"Sorry, Big Al, no can do," he told her. "This chick is a bitch, yes, I know. But if you hit her now, you've got no chance of making it into SSX this year…or ever. Just ignore her from now on, okay? It's what I've been doing all these weeks of training."

Allegra blinked, forgetting everything he'd said except for his first sentence. "_Big_ Al? What the… Are you calling me fat?"

Then, out of nowhere, Viggo burst into laughter. Allegra frowned, not getting it at all, and was about to make a comment, but that's when Larry started speaking again.

"And finally. Please welcome our newbie, Ms. Skye Simms!" [comment: I know, I know, Skye isnt SSX3 or Tricky, and although I like to pretend On Tour doesn't exist, I really wanted to add her character into my story. So, yeah, she' in it.

A girl that Allegra thought looked about her own age stepped up to the podium. She had bright red dyed hair, almost the exact same red as the tips on Zoe's hair.

And she didn't appear to have a riding partner. _Maybe, _Allegra wondered, _she'll be my riding partner if-and when- I get drafted?_

That's when Larry extended his arm out toward the 11 competitors that were now standing directly to the left of him. "Well, there you have it. The famous SSX veterans! Let's give them one more round of applause, shall we?"

Everyone clapped, and it lasted a very long time. _Too _long, Allegra thought. Why couldn't Larry just announce the new rookies already? She couldn't wait to say "ha, in your face, loser" to the brunette girl when she got drafted. It was practically killing her to have to wait!

Suddenly, just as Allegra was thinking about her, the brunette girl spoke. Well, she yelled, anyway.

"HEY! EVERYBODY _SHUT UP, DAMMIT_! HE'S TRYING TOTELL US WHO THE ROOKIES ARE!"

But it was impossible. No one could hear her over the applause.

A few seconds later, though, Larry began to tell everyone to quiet down. In an instant, everyone stopped what they were doing and focused all their attention on him.

"Thank you for your cooperation," he said after a few more moments. "Now, I'd say it's time to announce our rookies. If I call your name, just come on up and stand next to our vets… and our newbie, of course. Don't worry, Skye, I didn't forget you. Anyway, there's going to be four, of course, so hold all applause until the end, please."

Everyone in the bleachers fell dead silent. If the brunette girl had muttered a snotty comment to Allegra, she wouldn't have even responded. This was too big of a moment, and no one (not even that girl) was going to ruin it for her.

Larry opened a thick folder that had been sitting on the podium throughout the entire presentation, and pulled out a piece of paper.

"The first new addition to the SSX circuit…is Nathaniel Logan!"

About 10 rows down from where Allegra and Viggo were sitting, a very tall and muscular guy with a buzz cut stood up and trudged down the podium. A few people started to clap, but Larry quickly waved them off.

"No applause until the end, please," he reminded them.

Larry shook Nathaniel's hand, handed him the piece of paper he'd been holding, and motioned for him to go stand with the veterans.

"Oh, and it's Nate," Allegra heard the rookie tell Larry. He'd unintentionally spoken loud enough for the microphone to pick up his deep voice.

"Welcome to SSX, Nate. Congratulations! Now…" Larry took another piece of paper out of his folder. "The second new addition to the SSX circuit, is Viggo Rolig!"

Allegra quickly turned to Viggo, who was still sitting right next to her. She gave him a pat on the back.

"Omigosh!" she exclaimed, grinning. "Congrats, Viggo!"

Standing up, Viggo grinned, too. "Thanks. You're gonna be up there with me in just a few minutes, so don't you worry, Big Al."

There it was again.

Big Al? Why had he started calling her that all of a sudden? Did he really think she was fat, or was he just messing around? With that guy, there really was no way of telling.

Down at the podium, Viggo shook hands with Larry, then eagerly took his spot next to Nate and all the veterans. Allegra saw Mac give him a high five, (she still thought he was about the hottest guy she'd ever seen in her life) and Psymon gave him a hard pat on the back.

"Viggo, you are very welcome, too," Larry said, pulling yet another piece of paper out of his folder. "All right. Next I'd like to welcome our third rookie… Griff Simmons!"

To Allegra's complete shock, a freckled blonde boy who looked like he couldn't be older than 13 stepped down to the podium. He smiled shyly at the audience, and timidly shook Larry's hand.

"And I've got to tell you, Griff is the youngest SSX competitor ever to be drafted," Larry informed everyone. "_Twelve_ years old!"

There were several gasps from within the bleachers.

" I know. Amazing, huh," Larry went on. "But at any rate, welcome to SSX, Griff, and congratulations. This is a true accomplishment, especially for someone as young as you."

Griff just nodded, muttered a quiet "thanks" and hurried to stand with the veterans.

By now Allegra was starting to panic. That was three boys! Now there was only one more rookie left to be announced, and not even one girl had been called! But hadn't the brunette girl said they were going to draft two girls and two guys to make it fair?

This was not good. This was not good _at all_. What if it ended up being all boys? Could she and the rest of the girls who'd tried out get together and sue SSX for being sexist?

_Please let the next one be a girl, _she thought hopefully. _Preferably me, of course, but I hope it's at least a girl. I really don't want to try to sue SSX. It seems like such a neat league, and the people involved seem so nice…_

"And finally, the fourth and final rookie," Larry said, pulling another piece of paper out of his folder, which was still actually quite full. "Please welcome to the circuit…"

Allegra held her breath, and her heart beat so fast it felt like it was in her throat.

"…Miss Allegra Sauvagess!"

One row down, the brunette girl let out an aggravated scream. Many heads in the stands turned to stare, but Allegra didn't even notice.

She couldn't believe it! Well, actually, she could (there was no denying how good she was), but still, this was amazing!

_Omigod, omigod, I did it! _she rejoiced, not being able to hide her smile as she stood up to walk down to the podium. _I really made it! I'm part of SSX; this is the big time! Allegra Sauvagess, you are now a _pro!

If only her dad could see her now!

When she'd finally reached the podium, she could practically feel herself grinning ear to ear. This was the happiest she had ever been in her life!

"Welcome Miss Sauvagess," Larry said, handing her a piece of paper. "We're delighted to have you! And to all you other exceptional female boarders out there, I do apologize. We were only allowed to draft one girl this year, and there were actually about 6 or 7 of you that were what we would call 'SSX Circuit material'. It took about a week, but we finally decided that Allegra was the right choice."

He paused for a moment to look through his folder. As he did, Allegra walked around the podium and over to where the other competitors were standing. Nate was the first to step forward and shake her hand.

"Congratulations," he said politely.

Allegra smiled. "Thanks, you too."

She dropped his hand, and looked at the faces of some of the other competitors. As she did, she caught that Griff kid glancing at her. He smiled, obviously embarrassed, and quickly muttered, "Congratulations."

Before she could say, 'you too', she felt someone tap her lightly in the arm. She turned around, and found herself staring into a pair of bright, beautiful blue eyes.

"Hey, congrats."

It was Mac Fraser. And he was smiling at her!

Allegra was momentarily paralyzed once again.

_Why oh why, _she thought, still staring into his eyes. _Why does this boy have to be so hot? _

That's when suddenly, she felt someone else punch her in the arm. Only, this time it was really hard, and it actually kind of hurt.

"Ow!" she exclaimed, trying to sound mad, even though she was kind of relieved. Saved by the bell! Or, saved by the painful sock in the arm, anyway. "What the hell-,"

She spun around and saw Viggo, smiling smugly.

"Told you you'd make it too," he said, and held out his right hand. "Congratulations, Big Al."

Allegra frowned. "All right, that's it," she said, shoving his hand aside. "I'm sick of that, Viggo. Why do you keep calling me Big Al?"

But Viggo didn't have time to reply. Larry managed to shut his loaded folder and began to speak again.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, once again extending his right hand toward Allegra and the rest of the competitors. "I present to you the competitors of the 2003 SSX Circuit!"

The audience clapped and cheered, but Allegra noticed that they weren't as loud and enthusiastic as before. And she could understand why. They were all disappointed that they hadn't been drafted, but they still were happy for the four that had.

_Except that one girl, _Allegra thought, grinning with triumph. _She's probably out there cussing me out right now. Ah well, it serves her right, it really does. _

As the audience continued to clap, Allegra felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned around. It was Viggo again.

"Oh my god, did you see how pissed Julie was when your name got called?" he asked, laughing. "I made sure to look straight at her. Dude, she was _so_ pissed! I thought she was gonna-,"

"Julie?" Allegra exclaimed, completely forgetting she was about to ask him why he kept calling her 'Big Al' again. "That's her name?"

Viggo nodded. "Yeah, Julie White. I unfortunately had the pleasure of meeting her at the start of training camp, and she's been talking to me these past few weeks nonstop. Girl never shuts up about herself, and to be completely honest with you, she is the biggest bitch I have ever met in all my life. No joke, she really is a Class A _bitch_."

Allegra laughed a little. "Oh don't worry, I believe you. I mean, you heard the way she was talking to me earlier up in the bleachers, I've never met anyone so rude, so cocky, and so-,"

"Bitchy?" Viggo sneered.

Allegra laughed again. "Yes, Viggo, that too."

Suddenly, she felt yet another tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find Griff, holding up the piece of paper Larry had given him.

"Say, guys, what're we supposed to do with these anyway?" he asked. He'd said 'guys', but it was obvious by the way he was staring at Allegra that he was really just finding an excuse to talk to her.

"Little dude has a point," Viggo quickly said to Allegra before she could reply. "We should probably read these and see what they're for."

Allegra nodded, completely forgetting they'd just been talking about Julie. "Yeah, probably."

As Larry began to make his final speech, Allegra, Viggo, Griff and Nate stood reading the sheets of paper that he had given them. It was pretty basic:

Dear Ms. Allegra Sauvagess,

Congratulations on being drafted into the SSX Circuit; the most professional and competitive snowboard league in the world! Larry LaPierre (commissioner), DJ Atomika (Radio Big announcer), and the SSX event organizers all welcome you and wish you luck as you begin your career as a professional athlete.

You and the other 3 new additions to the circuit each have an apartment reserved for you in Metro City. (City located at the very base of Big Mountain: pop. approx. 2,345,000). You will be given a map of Metro City before you are dismissed.

Your lodging information is as follows:

Name of apartment building: Pine Valley Inn and Suites

Apartment Location: floor 5, room 522

Accessories: 1 full bathroom, 1 bedroom (2 queen beds), 1 cordless telephone, sitting room, TV (Verizon Fios included), XBOX 360, couch, 1 fold back chair, sink (water purifier included), coffee pot, refrigerator, microwave, table and set of 4 chairs 

Roommate: Skye Simms (Note: Your roommate is NOT your riding partner)

Other SSX competitors lodging at the Pine Valley Inn and Suites are as follows: Griff Simmons and Nate Logan, Mac Fraser and Viggo Rolig

We welcome you once again, and if you find that you are having any problems when you arrive at The Pine Valley Inn and Suites, or if you have any questions, please feel free to call Andy Bauman (event organizer) at 555-4569.

Thank you,

Larry LaPierre

Allegra almost screamed in excitement after reading her letter. Mac was going to be staying in the _same_ apartment building as her! This was even better than she'd hoped for...

"What? What are you smiling about?" Viggo demanded, and snatched the paper out of her hand before she even had time to react.

"Nothing," she said, but it was too late. Viggo rolled his eyes, obviously having read the bottom already.

"Oh god," he said in disgust. "Shouldn't you be more excited about the fact that _I'm_ going to be staying in the same apartment building as you?"

"That _is_ what I'm excited about," Allegra lied. "That's why I was smiling, Viggo, _duh_."

He rolled his eyes again. "Oh please. You're just so thrilled that you're going to be staying in the same building as Mr. Hot Shot Mac Fr-,"

"Shhh! Viggo _shut up_!" Allegra hissed. "He's right there!"

True, Mac was standing not far from them, but it was obvious that he hadn't heard her. His back was turned, and he was talking to Kaori.

Viggo snorted. "Pssh, whatever."

Then, to her complete shock, he walked away without another word and started talking to Griff and Nate.

She wanted so badly to say something, but she couldn't find the right words.

_Uhh, is he _mad_ at me for some reason? _She couldn't help but wonder.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys, thanks so much for submitting your reviews. I've had this story for a long time, and now that I've finally put it out there, I'm sooo happy ppl like it!! I've got tons more, so I'll keep posting whenever I get the chance. So here's the third chapter, which compared to the others, is actually pretty short.**

**Part Two: Roommates**

Chapter 3

The 35-minute bus ride to _The Pine Valley Inn and Suites_ had been exhausting, and by the time Allegra had trudged all the way upstairs to room 522, she was definitely ready for a nap.

_I sure hope they fix the damn elevators here soon, _she thought. _Because having to go up and down 5 flights of stairs everyday is gonna be no picnic._

She dropped all her bags so she could take her room card out of her pocket and slide it into the little slot on the door. At first the red light lit up, denying her access. She groaned in frustration (she _hated_ these things), and tried again. Finally, after two more attempts, the green light blinked, and the door unlocked.

Allegra picked her bags back up off the floor and managed to push her way into the suite, clunking the wall quite a few times, of course.

And the moment she'd stepped inside the doorway, she was amazed.

"_Whoa_…"

This wasn't just a suite. This was, as they said in that one movie, a _sweet_!

The heavy door to the room slammed shut on it's own, but Allegra barely even noticed. She was too fixated on the décor: a chandelier! The foyer had a modern, yet _fancy _lookingchandelier hanging from the ceiling! And not to mention the wallpaper. It was green, with little pink roses as the border.

_Kinda girly, _Allegra thought, smiling to herself. _Wonder if Viggo and the other guys that are staying here have the same wallpaper in their foyer?_

That's when it hit her. Oh yeah. _Viggo_. She hadn't had a chance to ask him earlier if he was mad at her. She'd left for the bus immediately after Larry gave her and the other 3 rookies each their own packets, titled: _The New and Improved SSX Circuit_. (And each packet was 66 pages long, which explained why that folder Larry had up at the podium had been so jam-packed.)

And that's when another thing hit her: _the_ _packet_. Damn, Larry had told them they should read over those, hadn't he? Allegra hadn't even looked at hers yet, not even while she'd been sitting on the bus on the way to the suite.

_And I'm so tired! _She thought, groaning. _But_ _I have to stay awake. This is my first day on the circuit. I can't be a little whimp and sleep through it all..._

But when she stepped into the bedroom end of the suite and tested out one of the beds, that was exactly what she did. It was _so_ comfortable, and she couldn't help but kick her shoes off and lay back for a while.

_Just to relax, _she told herself as she shut her eyes. _I won't fall asleep._

But just seconds after shutting her eyes, the exhaustion from her long day overcame her, and she drifted off to sleep.

The next thing she knew, there was a loud, ear popping BANG, BANG, BANG on the suite door.

The noise startled her so much that she shot straight up, her heart pounding so fast she thought it might explode. Jeez, _that_ had sure been a nice wake up call: NOT.

_What the hell…_

"Oi, Allie! Could you be so kind as to open the door? The elevator's aren't working, and none of those old bloke's downstairs would help me carry my things."

An Australian. Allegra immediately recognized the accent. There was an Australian girl standing outside the door.

_But who could it be? _she wondered, still feeling a bit dazed after just waking up from her nap. _An event organizer? No. She'd said she had 'things' she needed help carrying…_

"Oi! Allie? You in there, mate?"

Wait a minute. Allegra shook her head, suddenly feeling like her brain was functioning much better than it had been a few moments ago.

Her roommate! Of course, she'd totally forgotten about her roommate, Skye. Allegra was rather shocked at this discovery. When she'd seen Skye at the welcoming assembly, never would she have thought that she was an Australian! This was definitely a surprise.

"Yeah," she shouted, jumping out of bed and running for the door. "Hang on a sec, I'm coming!"

She unlatched both the chain and the bolt locks and pulled the door open as far as she could. In stepped Skye, with one big duffel bag on each shoulder and 4 carrying bags in her hands.

Now as Allegra got a better look at Skye, she realized that her hair wasn't dyed after all. It was clearly natural, and it actually had more of an orange look to it under the light, rather than red, the way it had looked at the ceremony. She appeared to be a very bright and lively girl, someone Allegra was almost sure she wouldn't have problems getting along with.

"Bonzer!" she suddenly shouted after gazing around the foyer for a moment. "This is absolutely _bonzer_! Don't you agree?"

Allegra frowned in confusion. "Bonzer?"

Skye chuckled, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Oh, right. Sorry. It's great don't you think?"

Allegra smiled, making a mental note that _bonzer _meant "great". She had a feeling this wasn't the last time the girl would use that word.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I first walked in, either," she agreed. "This room has _everything_! We've really got Verizon Fios, and an XBOX 360-,"

"_What_?" Skye exclaimed, throwing her bags down and running into the sitting room. "It's really true? I thought they were just pulling our legs when they said all that!"

Allegra laughed. "Yeah, I did too. But they really weren't joking. We've got absolutely everything that note said we were going to get, and I've got to say that I'm amazed. I didn't expect them to treat me like a celebrity when I joined SSX. I actually expected the suite to be…well, I don't know, crappy."

Skye let out another chuckle. This time she sounded amused. "Really?" she turned away from the XBOX 360 and faced Allegra. "You're really new to SSX aren't you, mate?"

Allegra didn't know what to say, so she just nodded. Yeah, pretty much. Up until a few months ago, she hadn't even known SSX existed.

"Well then let me tell you, you're in for a real treat," Skye said. "SSX is the farthest thing in the world from _crappy_. If you make it in, you're the big time, mate. You'll get treated like a true professional here, I guarantee it."

She then stuck out her hand. "Anyways, I never introduced myself, did I? My mistake! My name's Skye Simms. I'm from Australia, as you probably noticed. And you're Allie, right?"

Allegra tried as hard as she could not to cringe. Allie. It was what the teachers used to call her all throughout middle school, and she'd always hated it. _Allegra_. Why couldn't they have just called her by her real name? Or Al. That name wasn't half-bad, either. It was at least better than Allie!

"Um, no, it's Allegra," she said, giving her hand a quick shake. "Allegra Sauvagess, and I'm from Colorado."

Skye grinned. "Ah, now that's gonna be a bit of a problem."

Allegra screwed up her face. "What's gonna be a problem?"

"Your name. See, All-egar-a is a bit difficult of a name for an Aussie like me to pronounce. What do you say we keep it 'Allie'?"

Allegra was rather irritated.

Before she could tell Skye no, absolutely not, her cell phone started ringing in her pocket. She looked at the caller ID and frowned, not recognizing the number at all.

"Hang on a minute," she told Skye. "I've gotta see who this is."

Skye smiled politely, and nodded as she turned and walked off into the other room.

"Hello?"

"Ho-la," said a familiar voice. "What is up _mi amiga_?"

Allegra couldn't help but smile to herself. _So, I guess this means he's not mad after all._

"Viggo?" she exclaimed.

"Mmhmm. So what've you been doing for the past three point five hours? Dos thou liketh the room?"

"Yeah," Allegra said. "Yeah, it's really great. Wait a minute…_3 and a half hours_?"

Had she really been sleeping _that_ long?

Turning over her phone so she could see the clock, she found that yes, she had been. Jeez. She'd really been wiped out! In fact, if it weren't for Skye, she would probably still be asleep now!

"Hey, how did you get my cell number anyway?" she demanded. "I know I never gave it to you!"

"Packet, page 47," Viggo replied coolly. "Every competitor's cell and room number is on there, so I can bug you _anytime I want_. Isn't that great?"

Allegra rolled her eyes. "Yeah, uh huh, real great. I'm so excited."

"You should be! And on top of that, I also know the room number of the suite that you're staying in. So I can be twice as bothersome! Haha, don't you love it?"

"You know my suite number too?" Allegra exclaimed. "Oh no! How?"

Viggo sighed. "You haven't even looked at your packet, have you?"

Allegra rolled her eyes again. "Well no," she said. "And I can't believe _you_ have!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I was expecting you to be lazy like me and take a nap," she replied. "But I guess I underestimated you, Viggo."

She'd meant that as a joke, but he took it seriously.

"Yeah, I guess you did," he said. "I'm actually not really that lazy of a guy. I don't know why people always think I am, but you'll soon find out that I'm-, "

"Viggo, I was just kidding," Allegra interrupted him. "Jeez, I can't believe you actually thought I was serious."

Viggo let out a snicker. "Yeah, yeah. Well you want to know something I can't believe? I can't believe _you_ take all that 'Big' Al stuff I say seriously!" Then, just like that, he was laughing his head off. "Oh my god, I really could not believe it when you asked me if I was calling you fat. I mean come on. You? _Fat_?"

Allegra couldn't help but grin. Hey, she hadn't known what he meant when he called her 'Big' Al earlier at the ceremony! For all she knew, he could've been suggesting that she lose some weight! _At least now it's good to know he didn't mean it that way_, she thought, also laughing a little.

"Ok, so what does it mean then?" she asked.

Viggo laughed again. "It's just a nickname," he replied. "You know? Big Al. Like, you're the 'Big' time now? Come on use your imagination a bit! I think it's great nickname!"

"It _is_," Allegra said. "And now that I know what it means, I really like it. Thanks a lot _mi amigo_."

"Sure, sure," Viggo said pleasantly. "Any time. So you're not gonna get all offended now when I call you Big Al, right?"

Allegra laughed again. "No, I won't be offended at all. Now I should probably go; as you just informed me, I've got a packet to read."

Viggo let out a disappointed sigh. "But whyyyyy? We haven't even gotten a chance to talk about our roommates behind their backs yet!"

Now that cracked Allegra up. And she didn't exactly know why. Maybe it was because Skye was in the next room at that very moment, unpacking all her bags? Or maybe it was because she didn't want to talk about Skye behind her back. I mean, why should she? She seemed like a nice person, and there was really nothing negative to say about her.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea," she said after she was done laughing. "What, you mean yours left already?"

"Pssh, yeah," Viggo said. "He stayed for about an hour, and then he went into town. I don't have any idea what the hell he's doing, but really Big Al, I don't know what you think is so great about him. He's such a lazy ass-unlike me-and on top of that he's a slob-,"

"What are you saying?" Allegra quickly demanded.

_Oh…my…god._ Did he meant that…

"Yeah, you heard me right," Viggo said, now sounding like he wished he hadn't even said anything. "Mac Fraser is my roommate. Now as I was saying about him-,"

"_Omigod!" _Allegra was screaming with joy_. "Omigod, omigod, omigod!"_

"Yeah, yeah, I figured you'd be happy," Viggo cut her off. "But listen to me, Big Al, there's nothing really that great about him-,"

But Allegra wasn't listening anymore. All she could think about was the fact that _Mac Fraser_ was going to be staying here, _in the same building as her_! And all right, she'd already sort of known that after looking at the first paper Larry gave her earlier, but that could've been a typo or something, who knew?

_Well now I do know for sure! _she thought, grinning to herself. _Not only is Mac going to be staying in the same building as me, but he's also staying in the same suite as one of my friends! That'll give me plenty of opportunities to talk to him! _

"Hey? Big Al? He-lloooo? You still there?"

Allegra, still grinning, quickly shook her head. "Huh? What'd you say?"

"I said don't you agree? Don't you think that he's way overrated?"

Now Allegra knew it was time to hang up. She couldn't just stand there and agree with him!

"Listen, Viggo, I've really got to go," she said. "I'll call you tomorrow, ok?"

"Wait a minute, what about-,"

Allegra snapped her phone shut, not sure she even wanted to know what he'd been about to say.

The second after she'd hung up, Skye poked her head into doorway. She'd obviously been waiting.

"Was that the blondie?" she asked.

Allegra grinned. "Depends on which one."

"I mean the one our age. Not the little bugger."

Allegra nodded. "Yeah, we kinda became friends instantly. Kind of weird now that I stop and think about it. I don't think I've ever become friends with someone in just a few minutes like that before. It just happened, somehow."

Skye nodded too. "Crikey, that _is_ weird," she agreed. "And speaking of weird, I've got a question that I've wanted to ask you ever since the second I walked in here. Have you ever heard of a girl named Julie White? 'Cause I can tell you, Allie, she certainly knows you!"


	4. Chapter 4

Part 2: Roommates (cont.)

Chapter Four

Julie White. _Julie White_. The name sounded so familiar! Where, Allegra wondered, had she heard it before?

Then it hit her.

_Oh yeah! That's the bitch who was sitting next to Viggo today at the welcoming ceremony!_

"Yeah," she quickly told Skye. "Funny, but I actually _do_ know her. I met her at the ceremony this afternoon."

Skye was interested. "I see. Well did you talk to her?"

"Yeah, I did. And I've got to say, I've never met anyone that was so full of themself in all my life; she kept telling me that she _knew_ was going to get drafted, and that there was no chance at all that any of the other girls would make it. She thought _she_ was the _only _girl that had talent. No, seriously, she did!"

Skye had been gaping at her in disbelief.

"Why?" Allegra then asked. "How did _you_ meet her anyway?"

Skye came out of the doorway and further into the room. "Well I met her at the camp," she explained as she sat down on the blue couch. "The training camp, I mean. See, even though I'd already been drafted, I decided to go to that thing anyway. You know, since I'm a newbie and all I thought it would be good to get more practice. But anyways, Julie was one of the girls in my cabin during those few weeks at camp. "

Allegra rolled her eyes. "Oh _man_, I feel so bad for you. How bad did you get it?"

Skye rolled her eyes too. "Well the moment she found out that I'm _officially_ a member of the SSX Circuit, I was done for. Everywhere I went, she tagged along right behind me like a little jumbuck. And she would go on with this rubbish about how she wants to be my friend. Well I'm no dipstick; I knew what she was trying to do."

Now Allegra was enraged.

"Oh my…she was trying to use you as her ticket onto the circuit!"

"You bet she was," Skye said. "And she was really annoying about it too. So annoying, in fact, that a couple of times I almost told her to kark it." She paused for a moment. "Ah, sorry, mate. I'm just babblin' on and on here and you prolly don't even understand half of what I'm saying."

Allegra smiled. Actually, she thought Skye's Australian slang was pretty funny.

"No it's ok," she said. "I get what you're saying…eh, for the most part anyway."

Skye grinned happily. "Bonzer! Anyways, the whole reason I asked you about Julie is because before I got here, she called me on my cell phone."

Allegra felt her eyes widen. "What?"

Skye nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately she got so annoying one day at camp that when she asked me for my cell number, I was so knarcked that I just gave it to her to get her to go away. But anyways she called me just a few minutes before I got here, and she was really-to put it the way you Americans do- pissed off."

Allegra couldn't help but feel a little triumphant. "Yeah, I bet she was. So what, was she trying to get you to make Larry change his mind?"

"Surprisingly, no, she didn't say a word about old Larry. She was going off on _you_," Skye said. "She said a lot of rubbish about how you've got no talent, and when I told her that you're going to be my new roommate, she was actually very pleased. She suggested that I help her sabotage you so that you get booted off the circuit. "

Allegra felt her hands tighten into fists at her sides. Oh, now she _really_ wanted to hit this girl, wherever she was.

_What a little bitch! I can't believe she went as far to call Skye! She just needed someone on her side. Someone here on the circuit, so that it'll be easier to take revenge. What a little…_

"I know," Skye said, noticing how infuriated Allegra was. "But no worries. I let that boofhead know that I'm not going to help her, and I told her she'd better stay away from you unless she wants _me_ to deal with."

Allegra looked at Skye. She couldn't help feeling utterly shocked. "Really? You said that?"

"'Course I did!" Skye exclaimed. "Allie, before I actually met you in person, I knew that we were going to be great friends. I don't know how, but I just knew. So if you hear any crap from this girl later on in the season, any at all, just let me know and I'll be there to back you up all the way. Not that I don't think you couldn't handle her on your own, but…ah, you know what I mean!"

Allegra couldn't believe this. She hadn't been on the SSX Circuit for even a day yet, and already she'd made two friends.

_Whoa, this so would not have happened back home. _

"Thanks, Skye," she said. "That makes me feel a lot less pissed off right now. Really, it does."

Skye chuckled a little. "No prob."

They were silent for a few moments. Then suddenly, Skye sprang down from the couch and exclaimed enthusiastically, "Well that's that! So whaddya say we call up blondie and head on down to Rob and Bob's for suppa?"

This time, Allegra was extremely confused. "Huh? _What'd_ you say?"

Skye laughed. "I said why don't we call up your friend and go eat at Rob and Bob's!"

Allegra screwed up her face. Okay, she got the first part that time, but she was still confused about the second part.

"Who's Rob and Bob?" she asked.

Skye's eyes widened. "You've _never_ been to Rob and Bob's? Oh sorry, mate, I forgot! This is your first time here isn't it? Anyways, Rob and Bob's is only the greatest restaurant in Metro City. It's not fast food, and it's absolutely bonzer! I have to take you there; you'll love it!"

Allegra liked the idea of having a good meal. Most fast food made her feel sick to her stomach, especially some the places she'd passed on the way to the suite: McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell…the whole city had just seemed to be adorned with them!

"So, there's actually a place to get some good food around here huh," she said. "Well, that's good to know. Yeah, I'm actually pretty hungry right now. How about we head that way? You'll have to show me how to get there, of course, since I don't know this city at all."

Skye clapped her hands together. "Rightio! Sounds good to me! Go ahead and call blondie and see if he can come with us."

Allegra almost didn't want to. She knew that if Viggo came, chances were he wouldn't be able to shut up about Mac and all the "bad" or "bummish" things about him.

_Why does he have to hate Mac so much? _She wondered. _They've only been roommates for a few hours. How does he know he's not a good guy? He should at least give him a chance._

"Okay," Allegra said, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. "Give me a sec, I'll call him."

* * *

"Hi, welcome to Rob and Bob's," the waitress said politely to Allegra, who was at the front of the group along with Skye. "How many?" 

Allegra looked behind at the others. Well for starters, there was she and Skye, so that was two. Then there was Viggo talking with Griff and Nate, which made four. Then of course you couldn't forget Zoe, who was yelling at Psymon for God knows what, and Moby, who was clearly trying his best to calm her down. And oh yeah, Eddie and Elise, who were still out driving around trying to find a parking space.

"Ten," Allegra said.

The waitress smiled, and began to count out ten menus from a large stack that was sitting on a fancy shelf on the wall.

"Crikey," Skye muttered to Allegra. "When I planned this little shenanigan, I didn't mean I wanted half the circuit to come along!"

Allegra shrugged, somewhat amused. "Ah, it's okay. This way I get to meet everybody in person."

Well…_almost_ everybody, that is. Mac and Kaori had unfortunately not been invited, for some strange reason that was still unknown to Allegra.

"I know, but how did they all find out in the first place?" Skye exclaimed. "You called blondie and nobody else, right?"

Allegra nodded. "Yeah, just Viggo. _He's _probably the one that called and told everybody! I mean he was pretty fascinated at the fact that our packets have everybody's phone number…"

She glanced over at Viggo, who was still deep in conversation with Nate and Griff. Well, with Nate anyway. Poor little Griff looked like he was just getting picked on. But the moment Allegra was about to turn her head, Viggo looked over at her and smiled smugly, holding up two of his fingers in the 'peace' sign. She jokingly stuck out her tongue in response.

_And that would also explain why Mac didn't get invited, _Allegra thought logically. _Yeah, this was definitely his doing._

"Sheesh, what a complete boofhead," Skye said, obviously seeing Viggo and his "peace" gesture.

Allegra laughed, and by then the waitress had ten menus in her hand.

"Ok, follow me," she said, and began leading them all toward a table.

Nate, Griff and Viggo all heard her, but Psymon, Zoe and Moby? Yeah, not so much.

"Yoo hoo, heeeello over there!" Skye shouted. "She's got us all a table! Come on people, let's get a move on!"

Zoe was surprisingly the first to drop her argument with Psymon and look up. Allegra blinked, wondering for just a moment if this was the same Zoe she'd seen earlier at the ceremony. First of all, her black hair didn't have red tips on it anymore. They were now a bright purple. And secondly, the dark eyeliner around her eyes was _much_ thicker now, making her look like a complete drug addict. Not that she hadn't looked like one before, but still, it was a dramatic change. And lastly, she had a motorcycle jacket on now, which almost made her look like a normal girl, and not a body builder.

Allegra cringed, remembering that afternoon. _Gross! At least she had the decency to wear a jacket here to the restaurant. _

"Oh, sorry, Skye," Zoe said. "This jackass over here just doesn't know when to shut his trap."

Then without any warning she socked Psymon in the arm. _Hard_.

"Owiieeee!" he squealed. "Owie, owie, _ouch_! Zo, that really hurt!"

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Aw, shut up. Come on, you heard her. Time to eat."

_Nope, _Allegra thought, noticing immediately how much her voice sounded like a guy's. _This is definitely Zoe._

She looked over at Viggo, and caught him staring at her. He smirked, and nodded his head in Zoe's direction. Allegra rolled her eyes in order to inform him that she was not amused.

As they followed the waitress back to their table (which was actually several tables that had been joined together), Skye muttered to Allegra, "I know Zoe and Psymon might seem like a buncha weirdo's at first, but they're actually very funny once you get to know them." She paused a moment. "And no, Zoe's not a druggie."

Allegra nodded. Wow, she'd known exactly what she was thinking.

"Well I _was_ wondering," she admitted.

Skye nodded too. "I don't blame you. I thought so too at first, but once I got to know her? Nah. She's a good mate."

Allegra sat down, and Skye took one of the chairs next to her. Griff tried to take the one on her other side, but Viggo quickly shoved him out of the way and sat down. Allegra sighed, grinning a bit to herself. Bring on the insanity.

"So, Big Al," he said, still with that smug smile on his face. "I've been thinkin'. Maybe you and me should be partners."

Allegra stopped. She'd been just about to take a look at her menu. "_Partners_?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah," Viggo said. "You know, riding partners? We look out for each other during races and competition, congratulate each other for doing a good job, help each other out when we're doing really suckish…you know, basically a best friends type of deal."

_Yeah, like Mac and Kaori, _Allegra thought. _And Eddie and Elise. They all seem to never want to leave each other's sight. _

It really was amazing how strong the bond of being 'riding partners' seemed to create on the circuit. And Viggo wanted to be hers. Well, she guessed that would be ok. She would never be bored, that was for sure. And there really wasn't any other better choice. Nate kind of seemed like a country boy, and she hated everything to do with country, so it was probable that they wouldn't get along very well. And there was no way in hell she was going to be that little 12-year-old's riding partner, especially with his obvious crush on her.

"You know, that might just be a good idea," she told Viggo, opening up her menu. "All right_, mi amigo_, you've got yourself a partner. But who do we go to?"

Viggo frowned. "Who do we got to? Heh?"

"I mean how do we make the request? Who on the circuit is in charge of making people riding partners?"

Viggo snapped his fingers. "That'd be DJ Atomicka."

This was the first time Allegra had heard the name.

But before she could ask Viggo who DJ Atomicka was, Zoe let out a snort of laughter from across the table.

"DJ Atomicka?" she exclaimed. "Oh yeah. I met him already. I'm tellin' ya, that dude is _The_ Man! If you all thought Rahzel was cool, just wait'll you meet Atomicka. He's _definitely_ the kind of voice we need on Radio Big."

Now Allegra was overly confused.

"What is she talking about?" she whispered to Viggo, who had his head buried in his menu in order to hide his laughter. He obviously still couldn't get over the way Zoe's voice sounded. "Who's Rahzel?"

But before Viggo could stop laughing and reply, Zoe spoke.

"Oh yeah, that's right, the rookies don't know what the hell I'm sayin'," she said, obviously having heard Allegra. "Sorry about that. Allegra, right?"

Allegra nodded once. "Yeah, that's me."

"Well I'm Zoe, a.k.a. 'Royal Payne'. Good to have ya on the circuit, we need some decent competition around here. Anyway, to answer your question, Atomicka is going to be SSX's new radio broadcaster this year. He's also in charge of us…for the most part, that is. But yeah I met him, and he's _way_ cooler than Rahzel-oh, sorry. Rahzel was the _old_ SSX radio announcer."

"Oi, Zoe, what about Mix Master Mike?" Moby asked. "He's not leavin' us too is he?"

Zoe shrugged, rolling her eyes. "How the hell should I know? But I will tell you one thing I _do_ know." She then chuckled to herself, and lowered the volume of her voice a bit. "Elise and Eddie ain't never gonna find a parking spot out there. Psymon and I made _sure_ of it."

Psymon let out a crazy laugh, and Zoe went on to tell Moby the clever plan she and Psymon had devised to make it so that Eddie and Elise were out driving around for hours. Nate seemed interested, too, and was laughing along with them.

Allegra turned to Skye, since Viggo was still too busy cracking up behind the safety of his menu. "So I guess that means Zoe doesn't like Eddie and Elise?"

Skye eyed the four sitting across the table, particularly Zoe, who was now using hand motions in order to describe she and Psymon's 'perfect plan'. "Actually, she just doesn't like Elise," she explained. "Crikey, it'd probably be even safe to say that she hates her! Most of the girls on the circuit don't like her, though, including me."

Allegra remembered seeing Elise earlier that day at the ceremony. Weird, but even she had found herself developing an automatic dislike towards her.

"That still doesn't mean that she's not smoking hot," Viggo piped.

Allegra glared at him. "So, you're done laughing now?"

Viggo just grinned.

"So, Allegra," Griff suddenly spoke, as if he'd been a part of the conversation the whole time. "I heard you made that White girl really mad at the ceremony today. Nice goin', dude, I would've killed to see the look on her face when your name got announced. "

Allegra completely forgot she'd been about to tell him to get lost.

Jeez, how did _everybody_ know about that? So far this had been the second random person to mention the Julie incident. This was insane. For all she knew, the story could be all over the Metro City news at that very moment!

_I wouldn't doubt it, _she thought. _Considering how little I know about what goes on around here._

"Hey, little dude, how the hell do _you_ know about that?" Viggo exclaimed before Allegra could say a word. "I didn't tell _anybody_ that story!"

He looked at Allegra, and added, "I swear, I didn't!"

"You didn't need to tell me," Griff said. "Just before I left for the bus after the ceremony, I saw this girl storm down the bleachers to that Larry dude and just start screaming her head off. She was seriously going psycho, I felt bad for the guy."

Allegra could just picture it in her head. Julie throwing a fit, Larry trying his best to apologize but not being able to get a word in because she was screaming so loud…

"So it was Julie White?" Allegra asked Griff. "I mean, are you sure?"

Griff nodded, obviously pleased she was talking to him. "Yeah, 'cause Larry kept going 'Miss White, Miss White, please calm down'. But she wouldn't listen to him. She was all like 'No, I'm not going to calm down. That bitch Allegra Sauvagess needs to go die. I deserved a spot on the circuit more than her-,"

"Okay little dude, that's enough," Viggo cut him off, sounding somewhat angry. "Big Al doesn't need to hear anymore of that shit."

"No, no, I want to hear it," Allegra said quickly. "What happened next?"

She knew she was giving this 12-year-old more and more satisfaction every time she talked to him, but at the moment, she really didn't care. This was useful information.

"Well she basically kept screaming about how much she hates you, and then finally she walked off," Griff said. "I should probably warn you, though, I don't think that's the last you're going to hear from her."

_Yeah no dip, _Allegra thought.

"Crikey, and that was probably right before she called me on my cell!" Skye exclaimed. "What time would you say this was, little one?"

Griff scowled. "Don't call me little," he snapped. "It was about 5:30."

Skye quickly checked the received calls history on her phone.

"Well waddya know, she called me at exactly 5:41," she told Allegra. "I dunno, Allie, this could get serious. We just might have to drop by DJ Atomicka's office tomorrow and tell him about this."

Viggo nodded in agreement. "That's probably a good idea," he said. " I'll come with you guys, just in case the bitch herself happens to be there. 'Cause you know, Atomicka _is_ the next person in line that she might go and complain to."

"Yeah, and I'm gonna come too," Griff added casually.

Allegra and Viggo gaped at him. For a 12-year-old, this kid sure had a lot of nerve.

"Uh, no you won't," they both said in unison.

Before Griff could reply, a guy with a fro and a very tall blonde haired girl walked through the restaurant's front door.

Psymon brought his fist down hard on the table, and Zoe muttered "damn" almost instantaneously.

"I guess they found a spot after all," Skye said to Allegra. "Ah well, no worries, no worries. They usually talk only to each other anyways."

Eddie and Elise came over and sat down with Allegra and the others. They sat at the other end of the table, though, and like Skye said, they didn't speak a word to anyone.

"It's your fault," Psymon muttered to Zoe. "You didn't call nearly enough people to take the spots on Main Street."

"Oh, like I know enough people to take up every single damn parking spot on Main Street," Zoe muttered back.

"Yeah, well if you would've gone with my original plan, it would've been all taken care of."

"You dumbass," Zoe said, her voice getting more animated. "You're original plan would've gotten us both arrested. It's _illegal_ to smash parking meters, Psymon, how many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Who said anything about smashing them? I'm very good at simply _breaking_ things…"

Allegra and Skye looked at each other. They'd been listening to those two fight back and forth for too long.

"Where the hell is out waitress?" Viggo then demanded. "I've known what I want for the past 5 minutes!"

Right on cue, a peppy girl with long blonde hair hurried over to their table.

"Hi, I'm Amanda, so sorry about the wait!" she exclaimed while quickly distributing silverware to everyone.

"Ah it's okay," Moby assured her. "We weren't waiting so long."

"My ass," Viggo muttered to Allegra, who smirked in response.

"Can I start you all off with something to drink?" Amanda then asked, biting off the cap of her pen.

Moby, Zoe, Psymon and Nate ordered first, and then Eddie and Elise. Allegra, Skye and Viggo ordered next, and Griff was of course last.

"Ok, thanks, I'll be back shortly with your drinks," Amanda told them, and hurried off to another table.

"So is that the plan then?" Viggo asked Allegra and Skye, very quietly so that Griff couldn't hear. "Are we gonna go to Atomicka tomorrow and tell him what's going on?"

Allegra nodded. "That," she said, also making sure to keep her voice quiet, "is the plan."


	5. Chapter 5

**I know I haven't updated in like a million years, and I'm sorry about that, but I've finally got the 5th chapter up. Oh, and while I'm at it, I'd better put this disclaimer on here so I don't get sued: I do NOT own SSX!**

Part Three: DJ Atomicka

Chapter Five

"You're tuned to Radio Big. I, as you all know, am DJ Atomicka, the eyes and ears of SSX for spectators and competitors alike, broadcasting live from my nifty little sound booth with access to over 262 mountain cams. Ha, sorry, I just never get tired of that little intro. Wrote it myself, ya know. Anyway, enough about me. Let's start off this _wonderful_ morning at Radio Big with our competitor spotlight. Let me ask ya a question: what has a motor that runs a million miles a minute, can't sit still for two seconds, and has a giant yellow mop sitting on top his head? Well that'd be 12 year old SSX competitor Griff Simmons-no seriously, folks, this kid is barely 12 and already he's a pro. Man, I don't even think I could ride a bike at that age. Anyway, we've got 12 year old Griff Simmons on the circuit this year, and from what I hear, he's got enough energy stocked up that he frequently annoys the vets by running circles around them-yeah I know, Psymon, I feel for ya buddy, but just hang in there, ok? Haha, already driving the vets nuts. I think I'm gonna like this kid. Anyway, remember to stay tuned to Radio Big for everything you need to know on, and off, the mountain." At that point in the broadcast, Skye turned the car radio off.

"So, what'd ya think of him?" she asked Allegra. "Total boofhead, eh?"

Allegra laughed. "Yeah, but he's still really good. He obviously loves his job."

In the backseat, Viggo snorted. "Oh trust me, you haven't heard anything yet. He's just getting warmed up."

"What do you mean?" Allegra asked.

"I mean he tries to be funny more and more as his broadcasts go on," Viggo explained. "And you know, sometimes he really _is_ funny, but usually he just proves himself a complete idiot."

Skye turned around to face him. "Oh shut up, I like Atomicka," she said. "He's just a little whacked up, that's all."

"A _little_?" Viggo muttered, but Skye didn't hear him.

They drove in silence for about another minute, and then came to what was known as the SSX "grounds". And its set up reminded Allegra a lot of Disney World's: winding roads, and a lot of signs with crappy directions.

"Oi, blondie, I think we're supposed to go this way."

"No, Skye, for the millionth time, GO RIGHT!"

"But that sign says the SSX offices are this way-,"

"No, damn it, stop going straight; you're gonna miss the turn! Big Al, _please_ be on my side this time. Convince her that we have to go RIGHT- NO! God, Skye, take your foot off the frickin' gas..."

Allegra was really getting sick of this. Skye was doing her best to follow the signs, and Viggo was ordering her around and acting like he knew everything. She'd been siding with Skye in everything so far, and she could tell it was really pissing Viggo off.

Not that she cared. He'd get over it, just like he had before.

"I dunno, Viggo," she said. "I think Skye's right. Atomicka's office probably _is_ with the rest of the event organizer offices-,"

"He's not an _event organizer_!" Viggo shouted at her. "He's the main broadcaster for Radio Big! And what does that sign pointing to the right say? Oh yeah: _Radio Big_! Makes complete sense to me, dummy."

That wasn't enough to set Allegra off, but she was still getting really ticked. Seriously, what had she done to make him so mad? He'd been like this all morning…

It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the fact that she'd spent a lot of time talking to Mac earlier, now could it?

_Nah, _she thought immediately. _Just jumping to crazy conclusions, as usual._

"Viggo, you don't need to be such an ass-wipe," she snapped. "You've been like this the entire drive here. I don't know why, but I would appreciate it if you would either knock it off or keep your damn mouth shut. Unless, of course, you'd like to tell us why you're so pissed off."

Surprisingly, Viggo stopped being a jerk right away. In fact, he actually started being very polite to Skye when there was confusion as to which way to turn. And finally, after about 10 more minutes of driving around, they pulled into Radio Big parking lot. They knew for a fact now that this was where Atomcika's office was, because Skye had luckily had her SSX packet in the car. And that thing had _all_ the answers.

"Don't say 'I told ya so'," Allegra warned Viggo, getting out of the car.

Viggo shrugged. "I wasn't going to." There was a slight pause, and then he grinned. "But you know, I _did_ tell you guys over and over again before. But no, you just wouldn't listen. You were so convinced that Atomicka works with the rest of the event organizers-,"

Before he could say another word, Skye pulled her SSX packet (which was rolled up like a newspaper) out of her back pocket and whacked him on the head with it.

"Well at least I had this handy dandy packet with me!" she exclaimed. "And I consider it to be a much more reliable source than _you_, mate!"

Allegra laughed, and before Viggo could protest to Skye's comment, a woman in the parking lot called out to them.

"Hey! Are you kids lost?"

Allegra was kind of surprised at the woman's reaction. SSX obviously didn't want random strangers wandering around their grounds.

Skye quickly rolled the packet back up and put it in her pocket. "G'day! No, we're not lost, we're just lookin' for Atomicka," she explained. "I'm Skye Simms. This here's Allie Sauvagess, and Viggo Rolig-,"

"Oh!" the woman exclaimed, sounding rather shocked. "Of course! I'm sorry, I'm not quite to the point where I can recognize all of you yet. My name is Kayla Johnson, and I work here at Radio Big. Would you like me to show you inside to Atomicka's office?"

Allegra and the others nodded.

"That'd be bonzer! Thanks so much!" Skye exclaimed.

Kayla led them in through Radio Big's front door, and took them down a short hallway. Allegra thought the building was rather small for a radio station, but then she remembered what Atomicka had said on the radio: "broadcasting live from my nifty little sound booth..."

He sure wasn't kidding when he said 'little'.

"Hmm, looks like Atomicka is out of his chair," Kayla said, peeking her head into one of rooms off the hallway. "But you guys can go ahead and wait in the control room. He should be back shortly."

Allegra, Skye and Viggo followed her into the room. And the second they'd stepped inside, they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Yeah, I know, it's pretty neat isn't it," Kayla said, obviously noticing their amazed expressions. "You won't find another radio station in the world that has a control room like Radio Big's, that's for sure."

She was about to leave, but she suddenly stopped in the doorway. "Oh, yeah. I don't need to tell you not to touch anything, do I?"

Skye grinned. "No worries! We promise we won't screw anything up."

Kayla nodded appreciatively. "Good. Anyway, you can go ahead and sit tight in here. Atomicka should be back any minute."

Allegra told her "thank you", since Viggo still seemed to be at a loss for words, and then she left.

"Whoa," Viggo said, the moment she was gone. "Check…it…_out_! There's got to be a million different buttons and controls in this room! "

Allegra was amazed, too, but especially at the fact that the entire left wall of the room was filled with nothing but video screens.

"Yeah, and I don't think I've ever seen so many screens in all my life," she added.

She took a moment to look at them all. Atomicka had said something about this in his morning broadcast, too. "Broadcasting live from my nifty little sound booth with access to over 262 mountain cams". He hadn't been joking about the 262 mountain cam part either. There had to be at least 300! Talk about impressive. Although, the thought kind of did make Allegra wonder: where else, besides Big Mountain, did Atomicka have hidden cameras?

"Crikey, these must be some of the racetracks we're gonna be competing on!" Skye exclaimed, joining Allegra to get a closer look at the screens. "Aw…_bonzer_! Have a go at _that_ one!" She pointed to a screen in the middle of the giant wall. "One of the tracks is set up around the city!"

"Whoa," Allegra said, seeing what she meant. One screen showed a grinding rail, and right behind it was a building, obviously one in downtown Metro City. "I'm surprised none of us have discovered that yet. So did they block off the streets in that area, or what?"

Skye shrugged. "Dunno, but they've sure done a good job hiding it, 'cause I haven't caught it yet, and I've been driving around this city for about 2 months now."

Allegra turned to Viggo, noticing that he hadn't spoken in a while. He still seemed to be hypnotized by all the colorful buttons on the control panel.

"Viggo, don't touch anything," she reminded him, smiling a bit. The mischievous look in his eyes was all too familiar. "We came here to talk to Atomicka, and I'm pretty sure screwing up his control room would really piss him off."

"Aw come on, Big Al," he protested, sounding like a disappointed little kid. "This is _so_ cool! I just wanna see what happens if-,"

"Hey, you punk kids! Outta the control room!" a man's voice suddenly shouted, causing Allegra to jump. "All three of you are trespassing! I have every right to call the cops, but with good behavior maybe I'll let this little incident-,"

He stopped, his eyes resting on Allegra.

Allegra blinked, and stared back.

_Who is this guy? _She wondered. _Obviously he works here, but_ _why doesn't he recognize us? Well, I guess Kayla didn't recognize us, either, but in any case, he needs to calm down. It's not like we were messing with anything._

"Wait a minute, I know you guys," he suddenly exclaimed. "My bad, forget all that crap I just said! Come in, come in, welcome to my humble control room."

Right after he'd said that, Allegra's eyes widened in surprise. _This_ was DJ Atomicka? She'd just heard his voice on the radio that morning, and it sounded almost _nothing_ like this guy's!

_He must put on an act when he broadcasts, _she figured. _He would have to, because I know the radio doesn't change your voice _that_ dramatically._

Viggo secretly rolled his eyes. "Dude, Atomicka, you need to think about doing your homework," he said seriously. "Three SSX competitors are here in your control room, and I bet you don't even know us by name."

"That's not true!" Atomicka retorted, sitting down in his chair. "You're Viggo Rolig, the attitude gives you away completely."

Viggo rolled his eyes, but Atomicka didn't see it. "Why thank you," he muttered.

"And you," Atomicka went on, looking at Skye, "I know for a fact, are Skye Simms."

Skye grinned. She was obviously pleased he'd recognized her. "Rightio! Of course I'm Skye, you old bloke!"

"Excellent, just as I thought," Atomicka said, grinning back. "And _you_, are Miss Allegra Sauvagess, right?"

Allegra nodded, smiling. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

Atomicka's grin suddenly became secretive. "'Just another pretty face', huh," he muttered. "Well, we'll see about that one."

Allegra screwed up her face. "_Huh_?" she demanded.

Atomicka shook his head. "Never mind, never mind, you'll find out soon enough."

That's when suddenly, Kayla's voice came echoing out of the intercoms throughout the building: "Atomicka, you're live in 15 seconds."

"_Crap_!" Atomicka exclaimed, pulling his chair further up to the control panel. "Hang on a sec, guys, I've gotta do a quick broadcast here." He paused for a moment, fumbling with his microphone. "Say, I've got an idea. Why don't one of you guys make a request for the next song? SSX fans listening would love to have a competitor make a request. I don't care which one of you does, but just hurry 'cause you've got 10 seconds."

"Oh! Oh! Play Ima Robot!" Viggo shouted before Allegra or Skye could even say anything. "That one song of theirs is totally kick ass. Oh man, what was it called…"

"Six seconds!" Atomicka warned.

"Something, 'action'. Let's see. Of action, for action…"

"THREE SECONDS!"

"Oh! 'A is For Action'! That's it!"

"And we're back, with Radio Big," Atomicka said into the microphone, literally one second after Viggo told him the name of the song. Allegra also noticed at that moment that she'd been right. Atomicka _did_ put on an act when he broadcasted!

"Let's check up on the latest circuit news, shall we? This Friday at noon thirty-haha, I love saying that-anyway, Friday at noon thirty, AKA twelve thirty, we've got the first SSX 3 competition _ever._ It's gonna be held at the Snow Jam Racecourse, tickets are 15.00, and I'm just telling ya right now, guys, get those tickets _early_. It's gonna be a nuthouse there on Friday, and so if you haven't gotten your tickets yet, get them _now_, baby. Oh and if you don't have time to come down to the station and get them, just give me a call here at Radio Big. I got ya covered. Anyway, back to the tune-age. I've got Swedish superstar Viggo Rolig asking for some Ima Robot, and here they are."

Allegra immediately turned to Viggo as Atomicka starting pressing several buttons on the control panel.

"Swedish?" she exclaimed. "You're from Sweden?"

Viggo nodded, smirking a bit. "Yeah. Well I was born there, anyway."

"You never told me that!"

He shrugged. "Of little importance."

"So," Atomicka said, turning his chair around to face them. "What can I do for you guys? Unless, of course, you came here just to tell me how awesome I am, and how lucky you are to be listening to me while you're riding out there. "

Viggo rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed. "Oh, close. SO close, but not quite."

"Actually, we're here to bring a situation to your attention," Skye explained, nodding at Allegra.

Allegra nodded too. "Yeah, it's about a girl named Julie White," she said. "I don't know if she's given you any complaints yet, but here's what happened: yesterday, at the welcoming ceremony-,"

"Yeah, I heard all about it," Atomicka said, sitting up straight. "Don't worry, we've got everything taken care of. She created such a scene with Larry after the ceremony that SSX has officially banned her from all of the events."

Allegra was shocked. "You mean, she's not allowed to come to _any_ of our competitions?"

"Nope, not a single one," Atomicka said. "She's not even allowed to be here on the grounds. She'll be kicked out, and possibly even arrested, if she tries."

_Whoa, _Allegra thought. _Griff really wasn't exaggerating last night when he told us Julie started screaming her head off at Larry. Damn, it must've been pretty bad. _

Viggo was obviously just as pleased by this bit of news as Allegra, if not more. "Well, now that we've got that taken care of," he said. "Atomicka, I'd like to make a request."

Atomicka shook his head. "Uh, uh, sorry, you just made your request. I'll be taking a request by phone next."

Viggo rolled his eyes again. "No, not a radio request." He put his arm around Allegra's shoulders. "Me and Big Al want to be riding partners!"

Atomicka looked at them both surprisingly. "Well, usually the rookies want to be paired with a vet, but-,"

"Oh please, why the hell would I want to have a vet as my riding partner?" Viggo said. "You'd probably put me with somebody I can't stand, like _Psymon_." He shuddered. "That guy is _sca-ry_."

Atomicka smiled in amusement. "All right, whatever makes you competitors happy. Viggo, you and Allegra are officially riding partners." He paused for a moment, looking up at his giant wall of screens. "You don't care if I start announcing that over the radio, do you?"

Allegra shook her head. "No, I don't mind at all."

"Just as long as you don't add any rumors to it," Viggo warned. "I know you, Atomicka, I've been listening to your broadcasts."

Now Atomicka had an innocent expression on his face. "_And_?" He exclaimed, holding his arms out in a "what'd I do" sort of gesture.

"And I don't know if some of the stuff you say is necessarily true," Viggo said. "So watch it."

They both stared at each other for a moment. Then, just like that, Atomicka burst into laughter, and Allegra, Skye and Viggo couldn't help but laugh too. His laugh, for some reason, was extremely contagious.

"Oh, I get it," Atomicka said, a slight smile still on his face. "You mean you don't want me to start going around telling people that you guys are dating. Riiiiiiight?"

"Yeah," Viggo said. "That's exactly what I mean. 'Cause I hear some of the other crap rumors that go on around here, and I think-,"

"Say no more, say no more," Atomicka said. "I would never do anything like that, I _swear_."

Now Skye was the one that looked amused. "Whatever, you know that's a lie! I've been listening to you even longer than blondie here."

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to mean, Miss Simms?" Atomicka exclaimed, a different kind of smile now set on his face. "I do my job well, and I _don't_ spread rumors thank you very much, not matter what you all may think."

"Oi, that's baloney!" Skye exclaimed. Then she started throwing a bunch of Australian slang at him. It was clear that she was just joking around, but Allegra had no idea what any of it meant. Surprisingly, though, Atomicka was capable of shouting right back at her, using the same type of words. Allegra laughed. He was actually really good at it.

Skye didn't laugh, though. Her eyes immediately widened in complete shock.

"Crikey," was all she could say.

Atomicka grinned. "Didn't know I could do that, did ya?"

"N-no! Crikey, I thought I was the only Aussie around these parts!"

"I'm not from Australia; I just lived there for three years," Atomicka explained. "I better have picked up at least _something_ while I was there."

Then Atomicka began telling her where he'd lived in Australia, and wouldn't you know, it just happened to be the _same _city Skye had grown up in. They went into a long conversation about Australia immediately after that, and Skye seemed very interested in everything he had to say, too. However, Allegra could easily see that they were also…well, flirting.

"Oh my god," Viggo muttered to Allegra, looking disgusted. "Come on, let's leave these two _alone_."

They both left the control room, and Atomicka and Skye didn't even seem to notice.

"You know, they actually look kinda cute together," Allegra said once she and Viggo were out in the hallway. "There's a bit of an age gap, though. How old is Atomicka, do you know?"

"Twenty six," Viggo said. "And how old is Skye?"

"Twenty," Allegra said. "So, ehh, I guess that's not so bad."

Viggo snorted. "Not so bad? Sure, sure, whatever you say. The guy _really _gets on my nerves, though, I'll tell you that much. But if Skye wants to date him, then whatever. It's her mistake."

Allegra narrowed her eyes at him jokingly. "You know, Viggo, sometimes you're not very nice."

"I never said I was," he said, shrugging.

They were silent for a few moments, and then Viggo spoke again, this time his voice much quieter:

"So, what'd you and Fraser talk about this morning?"

Allegra didn't know what to say. She could not believe he'd just asked that!

She'd been so sure. _So_ sure that the reason for Viggo's bad mood had had nothing to do with her and Mac. And now, she wasn't so sure anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

**I am so sorry! It's been FOREVER since I've updated, but I've finally got Chapter Six ready to go! It's kind of short, but I've got seven coming soon, too, so review pleeeeease! Thanks!**

Part Three: The Impersonator

Chapter Six

It wasn't until the day of the Snow Jam race that Allegra discovered something was _very_ wrong.

The big race started in just fifteen minutes, and she was sitting near the starting gates, waxing her board and trying not to have a heart attack.

_You're going to be fine, _she kept telling herself. _It's just a race. So what if it's your very first professional meet? It's not like you've never raced anybody before. You're being such a baby..._

"Yo, Allegra! What up?" a voice suddenly called out, causing her to jump about a foot in the air.

Quickly turning her head over her right shoulder, she saw that it was only Mac. "Oh, hey, Mac," she said, trying to sound as calm and composed as possible.

_Come on, Allegra, stop spazzing out! _she told herself yet again. _Especially in front of him! You don't want him to know you're scared._

But Mac could see right through her. He raised an eyebrow curiously, a slight grin set on his face. "All right, what up with the jitteriness? Wait no, let me guess: you've got PGPA, don't you?"

Allegra screwed up her face. "I've got whatta, whatta?" she asked.

Mac laughed at her reaction. "It's kinda part of the lingo we use around here," he explained. "PGPA, pre game panic attack. I dunno, Psymon made it up last season when he saw JP hyperventilating right before the Mesablanca race. Haha, he had to breathe into a paper bag, yo. It was hilarious! I'm surprised _that_ kid," he nodded in Griff's direction, "doesn't have PGPA yet."

Allegra looked over in the corner where Griff was sitting. He was waxing his board, too, and humming to himself. Surprisingly, he looked very relaxed and at ease.

_Wow, this really is pathetic, _she thought to herself. _Even a 12-year-old is better at this than me._

"But hey, don't sweat it," Mac told her. "You're gonna do great! And if you don't…well who really cares? It's only the first race, dawg."

Allegra nodded, trying not to laugh. She couldn't help but find his frequent usage of the words "dawg" and "yo" extremely entertaining. "Yeah, I should just use this race to get a feel for things," she agreed. "But I can't help it, you know? I'm here, I made it, and I want to _win_!"

"Yeah, well it's too late for that. You're goin' DOWN, bitch!" a voice shouted from behind, causing both Allegra and Mac to turn in astonishment.

It was Elise. The all too familiar feeling of rage began to make Allegra's blood boil.

"Oh, I'm going down, am I?" she snapped. "Well I hope you like surprises, skank, 'cause you're in for one."

Elise snorted. "All right, I'll keep that in mind," she said mockingly. "But I'm warning you right now, you'd better watch yourself out there, redhead. 'Cause if you don't, I'll give you a concussion you'll _never_ forget."

"Redhead?" Allegra said, amused. She couldn't help but notice that that was exactly what Julie had called her the other day. "Ouch, I'm _so_ hurt. Oh, and before you walk away, let me just ask you one question: what brings about all this hostility all of sudden?"

Seriously, what had she ever done to piss Elise off like this? Sure, she'd felt a bit of dislike toward her ever since the day of the welcoming ceremony, but she'd never actually said a word to her. Not _one_!

"Oh, don't even act like you don't know the shit you said to me yesterday," Elise spat. "You've really got some nerve, you know that? I couldn't _believe_ you said that to my face! I never thought I'd find a bigger bitch than Marisol, but don't worry, you get first prize!"

"Said _what_ to your face?" Allegra demanded. "What the HELL are you even talking about?"

"All right, all right, BREAK IT UP!" a voice suddenly shouted.

Allegra was more than shocked to see Viggo coming towards them. He looked really mad, too, angrier than she had ever seen him.

"Listen, punk," Elise said to him, putting her hands on her hips. "We weren't done talking-,"

"Well you're done now, unless you want me to get one of the event organizers down here," Viggo threatened. "And they're in a real pissy mood, too. They were already talking about disqualifying Psymon for using bad language out in the parking lot."

Elise snorted again, tossing back her blonde head. "Whatever," she said, eyeing Allegra grudgingly. "But I'm gonna say it again: you'd better watch yourself out there."

And without another word, she wheeled around and went to talk with Eddie, who was busy stretching near the corner where Griff was still sitting.

Allegra smirked. It seemed that whenever the threat of event organizers was at hand, everyone cooperated.

"Whoa," Mac said the second she was gone. "I haven't seen her so pissed since Marisol put toothpaste in place of the crème in her donut last season. What did you _do_ to her, yo?"

"Nothing!" Allegra shouted, holding her hands out in a 'what the hell' type gesture. "I didn't do _anything_ to her!"

Viggo said nothing, but Mac looked doubtful.

"Are you sure 'bout that, dawg?" he asked. "'Cause she doesn't just go off on nobody for no good reason-,"

"I'm positive," Allegra said. "I wasn't even anywhere _near_ her yesterday-me and Skye spent the whole day boarding- I don't know where she's getting this bullshit that I talkedto her. I haven't seen her since the night we ate at Rob and Bob's!"

"Rob and Bob's?!" Mac exclaimed. "Yo you guy's ate at Rob and Bob's?"

Allegra nodded. "Yeah. Me, Skye, Viggo, Griff, and a couple of others, including Elise and Eddie."

"I love that place, dawg! Why wasn't I invited?"

Allegra could've sworn she saw a small bit of triumph on Viggo's face, but he still didn't say anything.

"Hmm, I dunno," she said, still looking at Viggo, who absolutely refused to even glance in her direction. "Maybe whoever invited everyone just _forgot _to call you."

Mac looked at Viggo, too, instantly realizing what she meant. "Oh," he said. "Oh, well that's ok. Maybe all of us can go again some time after a race."

It was clear to Allegra then that Mac realized exactly what Viggo thought about him. And she still couldn't understand _why_. It was really getting on her nerves. _Why_ did Viggo have to hate Mac so much?

_Because he likes you, _a voice inside her head kept telling her.

Was it true? _Did_ Viggo like her for more than a friend? Skye certainly thought so…

"Attention, riders!" a woman's voice shouted over the intercom. "The race will begin in two minutes. Please take your places at the starting gate!"

Allegra's heart skipped a beat. For just a few moments, she'd forgotten what they were here for.

_You're okay, _she started telling herself all over again. _You're juuust fine…._

"Hey, like I said, don't sweat it," Mac said, giving her a pat on the back. "You're gonna do great. Oh, and uh, don't worry about Elise either. She and Marisol have been at each other's throats since last season, and she hasn't even come close to hurting Marisol, not once. But, just in case…I got your back, dawg. I'll keep an eye on her while we're out there."

Allegra managed a smile. "Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better."

Mac winked. "Anytime. Good luck, yo, and see ya on the podium!"

Allegra waved, and watched as he walked to the other end of the starting gates. He had gate number one, she immediately observed. Too bad she was all the way down at gate number six. (Which was the very last gate, for the record.)

"Oh, he's just so nice, isn't he?" Viggo said in a mocking tone.

Allegra turned in surprise. She hadn't known he was still behind her.

"Yes, he's _very_ nice," she said matter-of-factly as she walked over to starting gate #6 and climbed in. "I don't know why you don't think so, Viggo."

Viggo followed her. "Pssh, I already told you why; he's a bum," he growled, also getting into his starting gate, which happened to be the one right next to hers. As he began strapping his board to his feet, he added, "I don't see what more of a reason you need."

"What, just because he's a little lazy you think that automatically makes him a total loser?" Allegra said, also bending over so she could strap her board to her feet. "That hardly proves anything! God, Viggo-,"

"It's more than just laziness!" Viggo snapped. "You don't get it, Allegra, you just DON'T get it!"

"Well, Viggo, I'd certainly LIKE to get it!" Allegra shouted, standing up and pulling a pair of orange goggles over her eyes. "I really, really would, but you know, you aren't helping me out one bit. All you're telling me is that he's a lazy slob. If you really want me to hate him even half as much as you do, you're gonna have to give me more reasons than that."

Viggo let out an irritated sigh.

Allegra grinned. "You know I'm right," she said, stretching her right arm.

"FINE," he yelled. "You wanna know why I hate him so much? You really, REALLY wanna know?"

Allegra nodded vigorously, now stretching her left arm. "Nothing could make me happier."

"All right, that's enough!" a professional sounding voice snapped. Allegra turned to find a dark haired woman in a red jacket. She had a clipboard tucked under her right arm, and Allegra immediately knew she couldn't argue with Viggo any further. There was no doubt about it; this lady was an event organizer, and she meant business.

"The race is about to start, and unless you two would like to be disqualified-,"

"Say no more, it won't happen again," Viggo cut her off, turning away from Allegra.

The woman in the red jacket gave Allegra one last death glare, then continued on down the starting gates, yelling at other competitors to stop arguing.

Jeez, no wonder everyone was so afraid of the event organizers!

"So tell me then," Allegra murmured, still stretching her arms.

Viggo pulled on a pair of skintight gloves, pretending he hadn't heard her.

This made Allegra mad. "Oh stop being such a jackass and just spit it out!"

"Allegra, this conversation is finished for the moment," Viggo said firmly.

Allegra felt her jaw drop. "Um, actually, this conversation has merely begu-,"

"Ladies and Gentleman! Welcome to the Snow Jam Race Event!" the sound of the announcer's voice drowned her out, along with the shouting and cheering that immediately followed.

Allegra watched the clock on the giant screen above them all, her heart pounding.

_This is it, _she thought. _This is what you've been dreaming of…_

Three…two…one…GO!


	7. Chapter 7

**FINALLY, here is the extremely long Chapter Seven that I have been working on fooooorever. So I hope it's good. Idk, i can see that i have about 20+ ppl reading this story, so review please! Thank you! **

Part Three: The Impersonator (cont

Chapter Seven

Allegra was struggling to stay in third. And since it was only about 20 seconds into the race, she feared that it was just going to get harder once she was further down the track.

_Don't think that way, _she was quick to scold herself. _All you have to do is place, and then you can worry about getting the gold in the final round. Just take this one step at a time, or else you'll start spazzing out again. _

She took a chance and looked over right shoulder for a moment. Griff was on her tail, just a matter of feet behind her. Eddie was behind him, in fifth, and Viggo was last.

She felt bad about that, too, and she wished that there was something she could do to help him. But this was a race, and even though technically everyone had a riding partner, it was still every man for himself.

_Or every girl for herself, in my case._

Then in front of her was Elise, in second, and Mac in first. They were very far ahead, though, and she couldn't see any trace of Mac.

_Wow, he's really good, _she thought with admiration. _And he's the same age as me. Well, almost. I'll be 18 next month, but still. That's pretty damn impressive._

She came to a grinding rail, and slid across to speed things up a bit. She almost attempted a handstand, but decided not to at the last minute, out of fear.

_Ah well, maybe some other time, when I'm not under so much pressure._

"Allegra Sauvagess is in third place!" the announcer shouted over the intercom, resulting in loud cheers from the crowd above. Allegra waved, and continued on down the track. That rail had gotten her a bit further in front of Griff, but he was still close behind.

"Hey, Allegra!" he shouted in his childish voice. "Make way for the little guy!"

Allegra rolled her eyes. He wasn't cute. Really, he wasn't.

"Someone stop the lameness," she shouted back, and sped toward the jump ahead.

_Holy crap. _She felt her eyes widen._ It must drop over 50 feet!_

It was the biggest jump she'd ever seen in her life!

She quickly shook her head. Why was she worrying? This would be the perfect opportunity to try out her new trick! _Capo, _she called it, because of her obsession with electric guitar.

She braced herself for the jump. The more air she got, the more likely it was that she would land her trick. That's what the instructors at the SSX camp had told her and the other contestants over and over again. Now she could see why they'd made them all go through that camp in the first place. It had been crucial; that way they would know which of them would actually be _capable_ of landing these huge jumps.

And of _course _she was capable. Just a little shaky. Or, PGPA, she thought with a smile.

Without another moment to think, she flew over the jump, and found herself falling freely through the air.

The view was amazing! A little chilly, of course, but she could see Mac and Elise all the way down the track! They were _so_ far away, and she knew now that there was no chance she would be able to catch up with either of them. But who really cared? As long as she stayed in third, she could move on to the semi finals!

_Just gotta make sure that little butt wipe behind me doesn't get an opportunity to get ahead. _

She quickly performed _Capo_, and touched down perfectly back on the ground.

"WAHOO!" she couldn't help but shout, even though no one could hear her.

She continued to board at a constant speed for the next minute, glancing over her shoulder every few moments. Griff was really catching up now; she didn't like the increasing momentum of that little blonde head.

"Hey, Allegra!" he tried taunting her once more. "Don't slow down now!"

"Beat it," Allegra said, leaning forward to gain more speed.

The race was almost over; she could tell by the way things on the course seemed to be slowing down. There were several small jumps ahead, and she did a few grab tricks just to show off a bit, but she didn't waste any time. Griff was right behind her.

"I'll wave at you when you pack yourself in a snow bank!" he said.

Allegra was utterly confused. She thought Griff _liked_ her. Not that she wanted him to or anything, but still. This was abnormal behavior for him. The other night at Rob and Bob's he'd been striving for her attention! In a positive way, not negative. And not only that, but usually he was an awkward dork. Now he was totally confident. Is that what competition did to this kid?

"Shut it or I'll shut it for you!" she told him, and flew off the next jump.

The jump was a bridge, actually, with grinding rails on either side. It was unlike anything Allegra had ever seen before, and she was very impressed. SSX had obviously thought a lot about the architecture of the courses, allowing riders several different routes to take instead of all one way.

"WAHOO! I'm flyin'!" she shouted to no one in particular, performing a series of flips and spins. She felt rather dizzy when she landed, but she could see the finish line just ahead!

"ZOOOOOM!" came a tiny voice from behind, and Allegra shrieked. Griff was right alongside her now! But how was that possible? Just a few moments ago he'd been _much_ further behind…

"Where'd _you_ come from?" Allegra exclaimed.

"My mother! Haha," was Griff's response.

Allegra's heart began to pound. She did not like this at all. She and Griff were literally neck and neck; there was no telling who would finish first.

"C'MON, ALLIE!" Allegra suddenly heard a familiar voice shouting. "YOU CAN DO THIS, MATE!"

It was Skye. She was down by the finish line, leaning over the fence and using a rolled up piece of paper as a megaphone.

_Haha, Skye. You've gotta love her. _

"KNOCK HIS BLOCK OFF!"

Right after Skye had said that, Allegra could've sworn she saw a small bit of fear on Griff's face. They both stared directly at each other as they sped on down the hill.

_Don't hit me,_ Griff's brown eyes pleaded. _I'm a little guy; I won't stand a chance against you…_

Allegra knew it probably wasn't considered 'acceptable' to knock down a 12 year old kid who doesn't even posses half your strength, but she was running out of time; it was do or die.

She drew back her right arm, knowing she was going to have to make it up to him big time later, and was about to let him have it. But that's when suddenly, Griff let out an "oof" and fell headfirst into the snow.

"SON OF A BUCK!" she heard him scream. That made her laugh, but she didn't look back. She'd placed third, and that meant she was moving on to the next round! Skye let out an ear-piercing scream of excitement.

"Allegra Sauvagess: third place!" the announcer shouted when Allegra crossed the finish line.

Allegra did a 360 as she finished, and Skye came rushing toward her, screaming and jumping up and down. Allegra quickly unfastened her board from her boots, and celebrated with her. One of her braids came out as she was jumping around, but she didn't care; the crowd was going nuts, even some of the event organizers standing around were nodding in approval.

"YOU DID IT" Skye exclaimed, high fiving her over and over again. "I knew you could!"

"Oh, yeah, I'm so awesome!" Allegra agreed, and collapsed down into the snow. Then, for no reason whatsoever, she started to make a snow angel.

Skye laughed, and it took Allegra a moment to realize that someone else was laughing with her. She sat up, and found that Mac was standing over her.

"Congrats, dawg!" he said, a huge grin on his face from laughing. "I told you you'd be fine!"

Allegra smiled, and before she could say anything, he grabbed her hand and pulled her back to her feet.

"Thanks," she said.

"Don't mention it," Mac said with a wink. "So how was it?"

"Griff Simmons finishes in fourth place!" the announcer shouted before Allegra could reply, causing them both to turn to their right for a moment. Griff had just crossed the finish line, and anyone could tell that he was peeved. He let himself fall forward, and started pounding the ground with his tiny fists.

Mac laughed hysterically. "_Damn_, the kid is P.O'Ed! Haha, we need to make up some kinda word for when people have an after game episode." He scratched his head. "What happened anyway? One second you guys were fightin' for third, the next he's all _el crasho_!"

"Eddie Wachowski finishes in fifth place!" the announcer interrupted him.

"Eeeeeeek! That was _horrible_!" Eddie shrieked, but he didn't go crazy like Griff. Elise quickly ran up to him, put her arm around him, and he seemed particularly fine after that.

Allegra held her breath as she rebraided the left side of her hair, suddenly not feeling so great anymore. She could see Viggo coming down the hill, and he was going to finish DEAD last. She hoped she would be able to cheer him up as easily as Elise had cheered up Eddie.

But knowing Viggo, she knew how unlikely that was.

"Poor Blondie," Skye muttered to Allegra. "I actually feel pretty sorry for him right now."

"Me too," Allegra said. "C'mon, let's be there when he finishes."

Both she and Skye made it back over to the finish line the second Viggo had crossed, and they ignored the announcer when she said "Viggo Rolig, last place." Allegra actually cringed a bit when she heard it.

"Viggo-,"

"DAMN IT ALL!" Viggo took off his gloves and violently threw them down. "SON OF A BITCH!"

"Viggo-,"

"What the FUKC was I thinking? That damn shortcut slowed me down!"

Allegra and Skye looked at each other. "A shortcut?!" the Australian exclaimed. "Oi, don't tell me you _really_ tried to take one of those shortcuts."

"Damn right I did! But there was so much fukcing ice that I kept falling on my ass-,"

"Well maybe you shouldn'ta taken it then, huh," Skye said. "A lesson well learned."

"Oh, no," Viggo sat down so he could unfasten his board. "That's just the beginning. Then I took _another_ shortcut after that big ass jump-,"

"You IDIOT!" Allegra blurted. "Didn't you learn the FIRST time that it only slowed you down?"

"Shut up, the second one looked good! But it turned out there was even more ice than the other-,"

"Are you _serious_?" Allegra honestly could not believe how stupid he'd been. "Well then stop whining about how you finished last, because it's your own damn fault."

"How is it _my _fault?"

"What do you mean how is it _your_ fault? You're the one who decided to take the fukcing shortcut!"

"HEY!" All three of them immediately turned around, only to find an angry event organizer running toward them. "Stop cussing over here! Some of the fans can hear you!"

"Rightio," Skye said cheerfully, making the "ok" signal with her thumb and index finger.

The event organizer scowled, obviously not amused. "Semi finals are in a half hour," she informed them. "You all should get to the bus; it's leaving in a few minutes."

"Bus?" Allegra questioned, but before the event organizer could answer, Allegra felt a hand rest on her shoulder. It was Mac.

"I'll let them in on what's goin' on," he told the event organizer. "You just keep doin' your job, dawg."

Now the event organizer looked murderous. And Allegra knew it was entirely inappropriate to want to laugh, but in truth, she really wanted to at that moment. It was just too hilarious.

She quickly turned her head so that the organizer wouldn't realize she was grinning, but it was too late. She'd already seen.

"What, you think that's _funny_ Miss Sauvagess?" she snapped. "You find _humor_ in the fact that he just disrespected me?"

"He wasn't disrespecting you," Allegra defended, managing to lose her grin. "He calls everyone 'dawg'. It's not a big deal."

"Even if that is true, I don't care," the organizer spat. "It _is_ a big deal. I am part of the authority here on BIG Mountain. You will call me 'ma'am', or nothing else. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Viggo and Mac said in unison, causing Viggo to shoot Mac a dirty look. However, to Allegra's relief, Mac didn't even notice.

The organizer glared at them all one last time, and then turned around so she could go yell at Elise and Eddie to "get to the bus".

"Crikey, I thought she'd never leave!" Skye exclaimed.

"Seriously, dawg. These event organizers need to CHILL OUT," Mac agreed. "Every single last one of 'em! Although that was the hottest tempered one I've seen so far-,"

Skye gaped at him in disbelief. "_Hot_?" she shouted. "You thought she was _hot_?"

Mac cringed, more than disgusted. "No, dawg, I mean hot tempered! Her _temper_ was hot. I didn't say nothin' about the chick herself. Aw_ Lord_…"

For the first time since the end of the race, Viggo and Allegra looked at each other. Allegra smiled, and surprisingly, Viggo did the same.

"Sorry about you finishing last," she said. "I guess it's no more shortcuts from now on, huh."

"Yeah," Viggo said. "I guess not." There was a slight pause. "But hey, congrats, partner!" He gave her a high five. "I look like a complete loser next to you!"

"Aw, you're not a loser," Allegra said. "You just need to have better judgement."

Viggo pretended to pout, and Allegra laughed, giving him a hug.

It became clear to her then that Mac and Skye were staring at her. She took a step back from Viggo, wondering what in the hell was so wrong with giving your riding partner a hug. Elise and Eddie did it all the time, and so far she hadn't seen anyone giving them strange looks.

"So how about we all head on up to the circuit bus?" Mac suggested, breaking the silence. "It's the bus that takes us back and forth from the starting gates to the finish line, in case you guys were wonderin'. It's pretty tight; I'll give y'all the grand tour!"

To Allegra's shock, Viggo gave her head a pat, and walked ahead with Mac. And even more shockingly, he actually started _talking_ to him! Not in a hostile way, either. He was totally friendly, and any one watching would probably think that the two new roommates had become close friends already.

_Well I'm glad, _Allegra thought. _Maybe he's slowly starting to realize that hating Mac is unreasonable. _

She and Skye talked the whole way up to the bus too, and Allegra filled her in on what had happened with Elise beforehand.

"Crikey," was Skye's reaction, as Allegra had figured. "That's really odd. Well no worries. I'm in the semi finals, and I'll be lookin' out for ya till the end, mate."

"Thanks," Allegra said. "But I'm not really worried about that. Mac says the chances that she'll actually do anything are pretty slim. And I think he's right; she's obviously way more concerned about winning."

"Yeah," Skye agreed. "She did place second, after all."

"Right. But what I am worried about is: why the _hell_ does she think I saw her yesterday? You and me were out tearing up the backcountry slopes all day!"

"No joke, we were totally _awesome_! And you fell, remember? You've got that bruise on your arm to prove it!" Skye exclaimed.

Allegra pulled up her sleeve, and Skye whistled.

"Whoa, I didn't think it'd get _that_ big," she said. "That just proves how awesome you really are. Gettin' third with a bruise that big, come on now; that takes _true_ talent."

Allegra shrugged. "No big deal. It doesn't even hurt right now-,"

"WHOA! Big Al!" Viggo suddenly shouted. He'd turned around for just a second, and had immediately noticed the bruise. "You didn't tell me about _that_!"

"It's no big deal," Allegra said again, pulling her sleeve back down. "Me and Skye just-,"

"Holy crap, yo!" Mac exclaimed. "Where did you get that?"

"Boarding yesterday," Allegra said simply, wishing everyone would just forget about it. "It's not even that big. I don't know why you guys are so-,"

"Not even that big? Are you kidding me?" Viggo said, taking her arm. "That needs ice. Come on, there's probably some on the bus-,"

"VIGGO! It happened _yesterday_!" Allegra practically screamed. "Ice isn't gonna do it much good now!"

"All right, then we can put a bandage around it or something," Viggo said, leading her toward the bus with Skye and Mac following closely behind.

Allegra groaned. "It's _fine_," she said again as she stowed her board in one of the buses outside compartments. Skye did the same with her equipment, and closed the compartment.

Ignoring her comment, Viggo grabbed Allegra's hand and followed Mac and Skye into the bus, where there was conveniently a table with 4 seats at the front.

"Wait here," Viggo told Allegra. "I'll go get something for it."

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Allegra was getting aggravated. Why wouldn't he just _listen_? "I don't need _anything_ for my-,"

"_Double_ crikey!" Skye shouted, pulling back Allegra's sleeve again. "It looks even worse under light!'

"Seriously, dude, why didn't you tell somebody about this?" Mac demanded as he sat in the seat next to Skye. "Your bone might be fractured."

"Uh, I think I would _know_ if my bone was fractured, " Allegra said, ignoring the temptation to roll her eyes.

Mac shook his head. "Not necessarily. I think you oughta have it looked at, yo. I recommend Doctor Reese. He's one of the circuit doctors. Cool dude, _real _cool."

Allegra didn't even say anything. She was so frustrated with them both.

"I feel bad 'bout this, mate. It's partially my fault," Skye said, still eyeing the ugly bruise. "I was the one who was with you yesterday. I guess it just didn't look that bad at the time-,"

"SKYE!" Allegra finally snapped. "There's nothing _bad_ about my bruise, ok? It's perfectly _fine_. Stop beating yourself up for no reason. And no, Mac, I am not having it looked at-"

Viggo's return interrupted her. He sat down in the seat right next to hers, and set a wrapping bandage down on the table.

"Zoe had one," he explained. "She and Psymon are both in semi finals with you guys. They're in the back-,"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU FREAKIN' CONE-HEAD!" came a booming voice from the very back of the bus, and there was a series of loud crashes that followed immediately afterward.

No longer necessary to mention where Zoe and Psymon were.

"HEY!" the bus driver shouted furiously, turning around in his seat. "Tell those people back there to quit screwing around!"

"You could just call one of the event organizers in here, yo," Mac told him. "They'll calm down _real_ quick if ya do."

The bus driver pulled out his radio while muttering to himself, (Something about being surrounded by "lousy, obnoxious teenagers".) and Mac found this extremely entertaining.

"Dude, he's actually gonna do it," he said. "This'll be _hilarious_!"

"THAT WAS NOTHIN'! I'M THE _KING_ OF DESTRUCTION!" Psymon shouted, and there were even louder crashes than before, followed by Zoe's hysterical laughter.

The bus driver turned around again, looking so mad Allegra swore he was literally going to kill somebody. But that's when two event organizers came rushing through the bus doors, (one was actually carrying a crowbar, probably for Psymon) and demanded, "Where are they at?"

The bus driver looked absolutely delighted. "Back," he said with a jab of his thumb.

Mac died of laughter as the event organizers ran past them and to the very back, where the two delinquents were still chuckling at whatever it was they'd just done.

"All right, Mr. Stark," the event organizer with the crowbar said. "I can't say that I'm shocked to be disciplining you this early in the season, however-,"

"Get BACK!" Psymon snarled, jumping behind Zoe. "I've got a grenade in my back pocket!"

The event organizers looked at each other, and rolled their eyes.

"Yes, that's very nice," the one with the crowbar said. "But right now we're gonna have a little talk about being on our best behavior when we're on circuit buses."

"Dude, we're not 4, ya know," Zoe said, sounding even more like a man than ever.

The event organizer let out a sigh. "Yes, well apparently we have no choice but to treat you as if you are. Anyway, when you're on circuit buses, you, as competitors, have an obligation to treat all property with utmost care and respect-,"

"I'm warnin' ya, man!" Psymon threatened, peering out from behind Zoe's back. "I could still let ya have it!"

The event organizer without the crowbar smirked. "All right, humor us, Mr. Stark," he said. "Let us 'have it'."

Now everyone on the bus was watching the entire scene. Allegra found it extremely amusing, and barely even noticed that Viggo was gently wrapping her bruised arm in the bandage he'd gotten for her.

Psymon's eyes bulged, causing the two event organizers to quickly take a step back.

"All right, I warned ya!" he said. "Here it comes…"

Suddenly, he crouched down on the floor, still using Zoe as his shield, but at the same time, blocking his face from everyone's sight. The event organizers cautiously stepped forward to see what he was doing.

But just like that, he popped back up, and the event organizers jumped backward again.

"Enjoy your arms and legs while you've still got em!" he shouted, and threw an object at the two event organizers.

There was an ear-piercing scream from somewhere in the bus, and Allegra turned to find Kaori Nishidake. The Japanese girl scrambled out of her seat so quickly that she fell on the floor, and quickly got up and ran toward Mac. Allegra couldn't believe it; she was crying!

"Mac!" she cried. "Ma-kun, he's going to kill us all!"

"Sshhh," Mac said, a huge grin on his face. "K, it's all right."

"No it's not!" Kaori shouted. "Why are you laughing? Psymon just threw a…"

She was interrupted by an eruption of hysterical laughter throughout the bus. _Everyone_ was laughing, even the two event organizers.

"That's the most peculiar grenade I've ever seen," the one with the crowbar said, picking up the object that Psymon had thrown. "Or should I say…_snorkel mask_."

Psymon let out a crazy laugh. He snatched the mask from the event organizer, and put in on his head. "_Psych_!" he exclaimed. "Ooh you gotta love me!"

There was more laughter, and all eyes were on Kaori, who was sitting on Mac's lap with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"K, it's all right," Mac said again, giving everyone a 'what're you looking at' glare. "Psymon was only foolin'. It's just a snorkel mask."

Allegra actually felt a bit sorry for Kaori. When she'd read about the SSX Vets, she remembered reading that Psymon repeatedly tormented Kaori, and that the poor girl was terrified of him because of it. In fact, Allegra could only assume that half of Psymon's reason for pulling that stunt was to scare Kaori.

_What an ass, _she thought. _I'm really starting to not like him or Zoe. They're both just so…out there. Weirdos. And not in a good way. _

"Oh yeah," Mac said casually. "Guys, this is my BFF, Kaori. Kaori, this is Allegra, Skye, and Viggo. "

Kaori beamed at them all with the same bright smile Allegra had seen at the welcoming ceremony a few days earlier. "Pleased to meet you all!" she exclaimed, seeming to have already forgotten what just happened. "You can call me K!"

Skye shook her hand energetically. "Pleasures all mine, mate!" she said.

Still smiling, Kaori turned to Allegra. "Ooh, and Allegra, congratulations!" she said. "I was watching the entire race! You are truly amazing!"

Allegra smiled back, knowing she'd already met another friend.

About 10 minutes after the 'Psymon problem' had been taken care of, the bus arrived back at Snow Jam's starting gates. Allegra made sure to wait for Elise and Eddie to exit the bus in order to prevent another brawl. Then she, Skye, Viggo, Mac and Kaori all went outside to get their equipment out of the compartments they'd stowed them in earlier.

"So who is in the race this time, Ma-kun?" Kaori asked, wrapping her pom-pom scarf tighter around her neck.

Mac thought a moment as he lifted his duffel bag out of the compartment and threw it over his shoulder. "Nn... me, Allegra, Skye, Zoe, Psymon, and Elise."

Kaori clapped her hands excitedly. "Oooh, so all you have to do is make it to finals and then you'll get to race _me_!"

Mac raised an eyebrow. "What, so you can get beat?"

Kaori crossed her arms, pretending to be angry. "Don't act like I can't beat you Ma-kun! Remember last weekend up on Happiness-,"

"La, la, la, NOT LISTENING!" Mac shouted, covering his ears.

Allegra smiled. They were so cute; even she had to admit.

"Oi, what the HELL?"

Allegra, Viggo, Mac and Kaori quickly turned to Skye to see what had happened. She was looking into her and Allegra's compartment, frowning.

"Somethin' wrong there dear?" Viggo said, somewhat mockingly.

Ignoring him, Skye turned to Allegra, a look of shock now on her face. "Allie, your stuff is gone!"

"_What_?" Allegra yelled, running to join her at the compartment.

Taking a look inside, she saw that all of Skye's equipment was there. But hers was gone.

_Everything_, she realized in horror. Her board, her duffel bag…

"Attention riders!" a voice shouted over the intercom. "The race will begin in five minutes! Repeat: the race will begin in _five minutes_!"


	8. Chapter 8

**It was recently pointed out to me (by my brother) that Rob and Bob's is actually a board shop in SSX 3, not a restaurant. Lol, oh well. I guess I was thinking of the Peak 3 Bar and Grill when I wrote it- I know for a FACT that is a restaurant. Anyway, I hope I didn't piss people off too much with what I wrote in the last chapter of my other story. I think I kind of did, but ah well. It's my story! Lol so here it is: numero ocho! There is a MAJOR twist in this chapter, and if you ask if I was planning this all along, the answer is: YES.**

Chapter Eight

After hearing that announcement, Allegra literally blew a gasket.

"Oh my GOD!" she kept screaming. "You've got to be fucking _kidding_ me!"

"No, I'm not," Skye said seriously, still frantically searching through the compartment. "My stuff's still here, but yours is missing."

"Are you _sure_?" Allegra shouted, not giving up. "You're absolutely _positive _that you put my stuff in there?"

"Yes," Skye replied softly.

"I saw her do it, dawg," Mac added. "She put yours in right after hers. Aw man, this is _bad_."

"Pssh, yeah, way to point out the obvious," Allegra snapped.

She let out an aggravated groan. What was she going to do? The race started in five minutes! Less than five minutes now.

"Dude, I am _fucked._"

"Maybe not," Viggo said.

Allegra immediately turned to him. "What do you mean?"

He reached into one of the compartments, and pulled out his own board. "There's no rule as to what board you have to use. You can use mine."

Skye slapped her forehead. "Blondie, that's _brilliant_! Why didn't I think of it?"

"Or you can use my board," Kaori suddenly spoke.

Everyone looked at Kaori in surprise. "Would you really let me?" Allegra asked her.

Kaori smiled. "Of course! I do not have to race until finals. I'll go get it right now!"

As Kaori was digging through one of the compartments, Allegra turned to Viggo again. "Sorry, it's not that I don't want to use yours. I just think it would be better if I used hers instead," she explained.

"Oh no, it's cool, I understand," Viggo said. "My board just isn't good enough for you."

Allegra slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "You know what I mean! Her board will be more my size than yours."

Viggo laughed. "I'm just kidding, Big Al! Jeez…"

"Here you go!" Kaori exclaimed cheerfully, handing Allegra a yellow board. "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Allegra said, grinning. "I owe you big."

Skye was grinning, too, obviously glad someone had come up with a solution. (Even if it wasn't her.) "Well we'd better run along then, mates! The race starts in Lord knows how many seconds! Allie, Mac, _let's go_!"

After saying that, Skye took off like a rocket for the starting gates. Allegra was about to follow her, but Viggo quickly caught her arm.

"Don't I get a hug good-bye from my partner?" he asked, looking somewhat hurt.

Allegra let out a fake, dramatized gasp. "Oh, right! How_ silly _of me!"

Viggo snickered, and Allegra gave him a tight hug.

"Good luck," he told her. "Oh, and watch out for the bitch. She wasn't a problem the first round, but you never know. And with me not being there to protect you and all-,"

"I'll be _fine_, my overprotective big brother," Allegra said rolling her eyes, but also with a slight grin on her face.

"I'm just telling you to watch yourself," Viggo said seriously. "And not just for Elise. Something could happen out there-,"

"_Damn_, Viggo! I was only joking about that overprotective big brother thing, but now I'm not so sure."

"Well after seeing that bruise on your arm, and knowing you didn't tell anybody about it…" He sighed, and shook his head. "Never mind. Just be careful."

Allegra smiled. "I always am!" She turned to Mac. "Ya ready to go, _dawg_?"

"Hey, do not mock the word," Mac said, giving her funny look, which just caused her to laugh. He was also giving his partner a hug good-bye.

"Good luck, Ma-kun!" Kaori said.

"Thanks, K," he said. "And don't worry; you'll see me in finals! Where I'll whoop… your… _butt!_"

"We will see about that!" Kaori sang, and waved as he and Allegra took off for the starting gates.

Once at her gate, Allegra looked back at Viggo and Kaori. Kaori was chattering away on her cell phone, but Viggo was still staring at her. She waved at him. He waved back, but very quickly, and he turned his head right away.

_Wow, he must really think that something else is gonna happen to me, _she thought. _I mean he does look really worried…_

…or, was worry truly the reason why he'd been staring at her?

* * *

The side of Allegra's face was bleeding. She didn't know how bad, but that's not what was bothering her.

_If I need stitches, _she thought, _then Viggo will really freak out…_

She was in 2nd place, where she had been throughout most of the race, but Zoe was _very_ close behind. It was almost like an exact repetition of the last race. Only this time, she ranked higher.

_If I could just find a way to get her off my ass…_

"Hey, Allegra!" Zoe called out in an irritating tone. "Pick up your board and run!"

Allegra had to admit: that was a _little_ funny. But since Zoe had said it to her in this particular situation, it wasn't funny at all. In fact, all it did was piss her off.

Not responding, she continued down the track. The bone-chilling gusts of wind didn't make her cut feel any better, and she cursed violently to herself. What had she been _thinking_ back there? That move had almost been as dumb as Viggo's in the last race!

_He's going to give me hell for it…_

After flying over the bridge jump, Allegra knew the finish line was just down the hill. She quickly glanced over her shoulder. Of course, Zoe was only a matter of feet behind her.

"Get out of my way!" Zoe said. Her expression suddenly became a surprised one. "Oh, and in case you didn't know, you've got blood all over your face."

_Really? I had NO idea. _

Allegra leaned forward, straining to gain more speed. Kaori's board had actually worked very well for her throughout the race. In fact, she kind of wished she could use it in the finals.

Speaking of Kaori, Allegra suddenly spotted her waiting at the finish line ahead. She was jumping up and down, obviously cheering her on, and Mac was standing next to her. He'd finished in first again. What a surprise.

_Hmm, that means Elise isn't going to place this time…_

Or Skye. Allegra couldn't help but feel disappointed. She'd hoped they would be able to continue on to finals together.

Allegra crossed the finish line moments later, followed by Zoe, who had been literally one second behind.

_Phew! How much do I rock?! Although that was a lot closer than I wanted…_

"Second place: Allegra Sauvagess!" The announcer shouted. "And Zoe Payne in third!"

The crowd cheered, and Zoe did another one of her amazing aerial back flips. Allegra flashed the 'rock on' sign, and Mac and Kaori quickly rushed over to her. Allegra looked all around, but strangely, she didn't see Viggo with them.

Where _was_ he?

"You did it again, dawg!" Mac congratulated her, slapping her on the back. "I can't _believe_ you…" He stopped, his blue eyes suddenly filled with worry. "What _happened_?"

Kaori shrieked. She'd obviously also noticed the cut. "Allegra! You need stitches-,"

"Nah, I don't think so," Allegra said casually, handing the Japanese girl her board. "It's just a scratch."

"Bull shit," Mac said, turning to leave. "I'm gonna go get First Aid."

"No!" Allegra insisted. "It's fine. Seriously, you don't have to do that-,"

But Mac was already gone.

Kaori pulled a handkerchief out the panda backpack she was wearing, and began dabbing the blood off of Allegra's face. Allegra was about to protest, but then decided against it. She really didn't want blood all over her face.

"How did you do this?" Kaori wanted to know.

Allegra sighed. "I got too close to a tree at the beginning of the track."

"A _tree_?"

"Yeah, no joke. I didn't run into it, but one of the branches cut right into my face-,"

"Skye Simms finishes in fourth place," the announcer cut her off.

Both Allegra and Kaori turned to the left. Skye was unfastening her board, muttering to herself angrily in Australian, but she surprisingly didn't flip out.

"Thanks, Kaori," Allegra said, beginning to walk towards Skye. "I've gotta go talk to my roommate now."

Right now cue, Kaori's cell phone starting to ring. "Okay!" she agreed, smiling. "Moshi moshi…"

The moment Skye saw Allegra coming, she heaved a heavy sigh. "Guess I just sucked today, mate," she said, pulling off her eye goggles.

"You didn't suck," Allegra said, also shrugging. "Bad timing is all."

Skye managed a cheerful grin. "But look at _you_ Miss Allegra Sauvagess! Goin' on to the finals…_CRIKEY_! What happened to your face? "

Allegra was shocked. She'd expected Kaori to freak out, but Mac? _And_ Skye? Did it really look that bad?

"It's just a scratch," she said again. "Happened at the beginning of the race. Stupid tree branches."

Skye laughed. "Okay, but you're gonna get it checked out, right?"

"Yeah, Mac just went to get First Aid."

That's when the announcer spoke again: "Elise Riggs finishes in fifth place."

Allegra and Skye looked at each other, grinning triumphantly. Then they both instantly burst into laughter, not caring if the blonde could hear them.

"You know, I thought about it," Skye said in somewhat of a whisper. "And I'll bet you more than anythin' that _she_ took your stuff earlier! For revenge, ya know?"

"Yeah," Allegra agreed. "Because I can't think of any other inconsiderate jerk who would do that to me. Now there's Julie White, of course, but-,"

"She's been banned from everythin'," Skye finished.

"Right. But I'm still betting that we haven't seen the last of her-,"

She was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Mac and an event organizer carrying a first aid kit.

"All right, Miss Sauvagess," the organizer said before Allegra could say anything. "Let's see the damage."

Allegra turned her face to the side, pointed to the cut, and explained to him what had happened. He smiled, and reached into his First Aid Kit.

"Well I've certainly seen worse injuries," he said, still smiling. "In fact, you're not even going to need stitches."

On top of being relieved, Allegra thought that this was the nicest event organizer she'd met so far. Mac had done well. But then again, he was a veteran, and he knew more of the organizers than she did.

"Good," she said. "Now no big brother lecture from Viggo."

"Where _is_ Blondie anyway?" Skye exclaimed. "Crikey, I can't believe I just noticed he's not here!"

Allegra expected Mac to know, but to her surprise, he shrugged. "Dunno. Wasn't here when I finished, either. Yo, K!" He called out to Kaori, who was still talking on her cell phone. "Where's Viggo?"

Putting her hand over her phone, Kaori shouted in reply, "I don't know, he said he needed to do something!"

Allegra frowned. He'd left without telling her? That was so unlike him.

_Something is definitely going on…_

* * *

It was about midnight when she got the text message.

**U still up? **It said simply.

Allegra sighed in relief. Finally. She'd actually been starting to worry that something happened to him.

**Yea, of course im up u asshole, **she typed out. **Uve got a lot of explaining 2 do. Y did u just leave the race w out telling me? I called u about 80 times too…**

She stopped, hearing the apartment door slam shut. Skye had just gotten back; she could hear her obnoxious voice all the way out in the hallway, even though the bedroom door was shut.

"No, I don't think she's back yet," the Australian said. She was obviously talking on her cell phone. "Hang on a sec."

Allegra didn't know why she did it, but in one quick movement she jumped off the bed and ran into the closet, quietly sliding it shut.

_Okay, it's pretty lame of me to be doing this, _she thought. _But who the hell is she talking to? And why does it matter if I'm here or not?_

Literally two seconds later the bedroom door burst open, and Allegra watched through a crack in the closet door as Skye searched the area.

"Allie?" she called in her usual friendly voice. "You in here, mate? Sorry I'm back so late! I had a few errands to run after the race."

There was total silence.

"Nah, she's still out," Skye informed the person on the other end. "Prolly celebratin'. Anyway, what was it you were sayin'?'

Allegra frowned to herself. Maybe it was a good thing she was hiding.

"Yeah, she got pretty mad," Skye said, chuckling. "In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her that mad. Wha…no, she obviously wasn't disqualified. How else would she have gotten 2nd place in the final round? She used that Jap girl's board, and then Viggo's in the finals."

Allegra felt her eyes widen in complete shock. She'd _never_ heard Skye call Viggo by his real name before!

"Oh, so you hate him too, do you?" Skye said, looking annoyed. She leaned against the door, impatiently waiting for the person on the other end to finish talking. "Look, Jules, we can only sabotage so many people at once. Those event organizers don't screw around. If they suspect me of anythin' I'm done for. Mind you, I almost got caught today when I moved her stuff outta that bus compartment. With all those people standin' around, it wasn't an easy job. Pssh, at least that bloke Psymon created a distraction. I don't think I woulda gotten away with it otherwise."

Allegra felt her heart sink.

_I don't believe it. That's Julie White she's talking to…and it was her! She moved my stuff out of that compartment! Now that I think about it, she _wasn't_ there during the whole grenade incident…_

"Jules, for once in your life, would ya just shut up and listen?" Skye spat. "I wasn't done yet. Look, I've got Allie taken care of. She'll be off the circuit by the next race; don't even worry 'bout it. And as for Viggo…well, we can think of somethin' for him later in the season, if you insist. But after Allie's gone I'm gonna need to take some time off of all this sabotage business. I still wanna get the gold, ya know."

The shock Allegra had felt was instantly replaced with rage.

_Oh my god. She's been planning to get me kicked off this whole time! I am going to kill her…_

But it was probably best to tell Viggo and Mac first.

Erasing what she'd just typed in her text message to Viggo, she quickly replaced it with: **Yea, im still up. im coming down to ur room rite now. theres something ive gotta tell u.**

She sent the message, and peered cautiously through the crack in the closet door. Skye was still there in the room, and by the looks of it, she didn't plan on leaving soon.

"Jules, I _know_ it wasn't fair that she got picked instead of you," Skye exclaimed. "That's why I'm helpin' you get even, but you've gotta understand that I'm also here to win. In fact, I think part of the reason I didn't place in semi finals was because I was thinkin' too much 'bout this. I can't just spend all my time helpin' you get back at people you don't like."

_Damn, this girl really is nothing but a bitch! Is that all she cares about? Revenge?_

_Why_ was Skye friends with her? For a while, Allegra had actually thought the Australian girl had a smart head on her shoulders. But then again, that wasn't really who Skye was. Everything she'd known her as before had all been an act.

Allegra couldn't help but feel a bit betrayed, along with her anger.

"Whatever," Skye said quickly. "I'll call you tomorrow with an update."

With that, she snapped her phone shut and let out a sigh.

"Maybe I should just forget about it," Allegra heard her mutter. "I mean I don't wanna get busted…"

That's when suddenly, Allegra felt her phone start to vibrate in her pocket. She quickly pressed the side button to get it to stop, and looked through the crack in the closet door again, holding her breath.

Luckily, Skye didn't appear to have heard anything.

**All rite, **Viggo had replied. **thats cool. I just got back. come on down. Ive got something to tell u too. **

Allegra quietly shut her phone, and looked out at Skye again. She was sitting on the end of her bed, just staring at nothing.

_Come on, dammit. Leave the room…_

The minutes ticked by, and finally, Skye decided to get up and go into the bathroom. Allegra took this opportunity, and slid out the closet door.

Her cell phone vibrated again as she was making her way through the foyer, and she flipped it open in annoyance.

**Wat's taking u so long? **Viggo wanted to know.

Allegra didn't bother to reply, and put her phone back in her pocket. She could explain later when she got downstairs.

Very quietly, Allegra turned the knob, and opened the heavy door. She tiptoed out into the hallway, and made sure the door closed slowly so that it wouldn't make any noise.

She ran down to the fourth floor as fast as she could, skipping stairs as she did. It felt so good to finally be out of that room!

_In fact, _she thought, _I don't even know if I want to go back there tonight. I'm not going to confront her yet-I want to know what she has planned for me first-but it would just be too weird. Could I really have a normal conversation with her without blurting 'I know what you're up to'? _

When she reached the guy's door, she turned the knob without hesitation. Sure enough, it was unlocked, and she just walked right in.

"Holy crap, yo!" Mac exclaimed. He was sitting on the couch in his boxers and a T-shirt, watching an episode of 'That 70's Show'. "Don't ever do that again! You scared the shit outta me, dawg."

"Sorry," Allegra said, not so apologetically. "But there's something really important I have to tell you guys. Where's Viggo?"

Mac let out a chuckle. "He just went upstairs to you'n Skye's room to check on you. Said you didn't respond to his text, so he got kinda worried, I guess."

"But that's impossible," Allegra said. "I would've run into him on the stairs."

"Nah, they fixed the elevators," Mac informed her. "Didn't you notice when you got back?"

_No, because I'm not a lazy ass guy,_ Allegra thought with a grin. Viggo _would_ take an elevator just to go up one floor!

"No, I didn't," Allegra said. "Anyway, like I was saying, when he gets back there's something I have to tell you both…"

That's when it hit her.

"Oh _crap_!" she exclaimed.

Mac looked at her with concern. "What?"

"Damn it, I _hope_ Viggo doesn't tell Skye I said I had something important to tell him! She might suspect I know something-,"

"Suspect you know something?" Mac raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you'd better tell me what's goin' on here, dawg."

That's when the room door burst open. It was Viggo, of course.

"When the _hell_ did you get here?" he blurted.

He actually seemed kind of angry, and Allegra couldn't understand why.

"About a minute ago," Allegra told him. "And by the way, Viggo, I have _much_ more of a right to be mad at you right now. How could you? Ditching me at the race; you didn't even tell me where you were going! And then you weren't there to see me win the silver medal…what kind of a riding partner are you?"

Surprisingly, Viggo actually looked like he was sorry. "I know, I heard about you getting second, and I really _did_ want to be there," he said. "I'm sorry, Big Al. I'm _so_ sorry. But something happened in the middle of the semi finals, and I had to leave."

Allegra had a hard time believing him. "What happened then, Viggo?" she demanded. "What was _so_ important that you just had to leave and not come back?"

Now he looked very serious. "We've got a problem, Big Al, and I mean a _huge_ problem."

"Yeah, no shit," Allegra muttered.

Viggo looked shocked. "You mean…you know?"

"Know what?" Mac suddenly shouted. "What the hell is goin' _on_ here, dawg?"

Allegra and Viggo looked at each other.

"Skye," they said in unison.

**So waddya think of THAT??**


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

**Sorry this took so long, but I've been busy with school. Anyway, thank you for all the wonderful reviews! Lizzie, Amanda, Pretty.Pretty.Butterfuly, Gleeful Melancholy, CoLLison, and The One True Koneko. Btw, speaking of The One True Koneko, when are you EVER going to update your truth or dare story? It's driving me insane! lol anyway, here's chapter nine! be sure to tell me what you think!**

Chapter Nine

"So it's agreed, then," Allegra said. "We go tell Atomicka about Skye first thing in the morning."

Mac nodded. "Sounds like a good plan to me, dawg," he said, taking a drink from the Coke can he was holding.

Viggo was the only one who looked unsure. "I don't know, Big Al. I think maybe we should tell him tonight."

Mac almost spit out his Coke. "Yo, are you _nuts_?" he cholked. "It's almost one a.m.! Normal people are sleepin' at this hour, dawg!"

"Yeah, and we've all got a busy day," Allegra added. "The Crow's Nest Event is tomorrow, remember? Atomicka definitely needs his sleep, Viggo. He'll be swamped."

"Hell, like I care," Viggo said. "If it gets you out of danger from Miss Loudmouth, I'll happily wake him up at any hour."

Allegra almost laughed. "I'm hardly in any _danger_, Viggo," she pointed out. "You guys are gonna let me stay here for the night, so what could Skye _possibly_ do between now and tomorrow morning?"

"Nothing," Mac finished before Viggo could reply. "Now I'd like to go to bed if y'all don't mind."

Suddenly, Allegra's cell phone started vibrating. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen, wondering who could possibly be calling her so late.

_Incoming call: Skye._

"You'll never believe it. It's _Skye_!" Allegra exclaimed. "What in the hell does _she_ want? She's seriously going to try and pretend she's all worried that I haven't come back yet?"

"Just don't pick it up, dawg," Mac told her. "Then she'll prolly try and call one of us, and we'll just do the talkin' for ya."

Right on cue, Viggo's phone started ringing. He looked at the screen, rolled his eyes, and held it out for Allegra and Mac to see.

"Told ya," Mac muttered as he finished off his Coke.

"So pick it up," Allegra said. "And put it on speaker. I wanna hear what kind of BS she tells you."

Viggo flipped open his phone, quickly pressing the speaker button at the top with his thumb. "Hello?"

"Omigod, Blondie!" Skye's voice came booming from the tiny speaker on the phone. "I'm so glad you picked up! Is Allie with you?"

Allegra and Viggo looked at each other, both with the same look of disgust.

"Yeah," Viggo told her. "She crashed here on the couch. I thought it would be better not to wake her up."

Skye made a weird noise. "Whatever, I don't even wanna know," she said. "Anyway, thanks, Blondie. I was jus' gettin' sorta worried 'bout her. Kinda late for her to still be out."

"Yeah, Viggo said again. "Well you don't need to worry, 'cause she's here."

"Thanks so much, mate!" Skye exclaimed. "Oh and tell Allie to come upstairs before she leaves for the competition tomorrow would ya? I wanna talk to her about somethin', and then we can leave together."

"Sure, I'll tell her," Viggo said. "See you tomorrow, Skye."

He hung up before she could even say one word in reply.

"Wow," Mac said the second after Viggo shut his phone. "This is fo' real ain't it? I mean she's _really _out to get you."

Allegra looked at him strangely. "Of course it's for real. What, you thought I was joking all this time?"

"No, no, 'course not!" Mac laughed a little. "It's just so weird, yo. Nothin' like this has ever happened before. Elise and Marisol have always hated each other, yeah, but nothin' this extreme."

"Guess Skye and I are making SSX history, then," Allegra said, turning to Viggo. "And while I'm thinking about it, Viggo, you've still got a lot of explaining to do about this afternoon. Do tell us, _mi amigo_."

Viggo nodded, knowing what she meant, and took a seat between her and Mac on the couch. "Right. Well I guess I should start with earlier when I left the race. The reason I left without telling you was because I'd realized what Skye was up to. I figured it out while I was standing on the sidelines with Kaori."

"How?" Allegra wanted to know.

"Well, actually…" He grinned evilly. "I went through her stuff."

Mac applauded him. "That's the way to do it, dawg!"

"Well I didn't really suspect her at first," Viggo explained. "I just thought it was kind of odd that she put Big Al's board and other stuff in that compartment, and then-,"

"And then she couldn't find it," Allegra finished.

"Yeah. I mean _she _put it in there. Didn't it kind of make sense that she might also have been the one to take it out?"

"Yes. It makes perfect sense," Allegra said quietly. "I'm such an _idiot_. I can't believe I never thought of it."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Mac said, lightly patting her on the back. "You thought she was your friend, yo. I wouldn'ta suspected her either."

"And you figured it out on your own anyway," Viggo pointed out. "Guess you don't need me around to help you out anymore."

Allegra smiled, mock-punching him in the arm. "I'll always need you around, stupid! You're my riding partner."

Viggo also grinned. "Oh and by the way, don't think I haven't noticed the cut on your face."

Allegra rolled her eyes. "Well you can go ahead and _pretend_ you haven't noticed."

"Nope, it's too late for that. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"_Allegra_-,"

"_Anyway_. What did you find when you looked in Skye's bag? My board? My goggles?"

Viggo sighed, shaking his head. "This conversation is not over Miss Allegra Sauvagess."

"I'll tell ya what happened to her," Mac said. "She ran into a tree."

Before Allegra could say that was _so_ not what happened, Viggo burst into laughter.

"A tree? A _tree_? Is that really it?"

He truly thought this was hysterical.

"Okay, moving on," Allegra said, starting to get irritated. Seriously, it wasn't _that _funny. "What did you find when you opened Skye's bag?"

Somehow, Viggo managed to stop laughing and continue on with his story. "Anyway, yeah. I was standing on the sidelines with Kaori, and I noticed Skye left her bag at the starting gates. So I just walked right on over and opened it. _All_ your stuff was in there, Big Al. Your board, your goggles, your bracelets-everything."

"What did you do with the bag?" Allegra asked him.

Viggo pointed to the foyer, where a huge black duffel bag was lying near the door. Allegra couldn't believe she hadn't seen it when she first walked in. But then again, she'd been thinking about other things at the time.

"Brought it back with me," Viggo said. "The second I found out for sure that it was Skye's bag, I was livid."

"Livid?" Mac snorted.

"Yes, because 'pissed' doesn't even begin to cover it," Viggo snapped. "So then I tried to tell one of the event organizers what had happened, and they told me to take it up with Atomicka. Seriously, they just brushed it off like it was no big deal. I swear some of them didn't even believe me."

"Well when you think about it, it does sound kinda stupid," Allegra said. "Oh, 'she took Allegra's stuff and hid it from her so she couldn't race'. It almost sounds childish."

"It don't matter," Mac said. "That's bullshit, man. They should've at least done somethin' about it. Think of what would'a happened if K hadn't been there to give you her board. You would'a been _screwed_."

"No shit," Viggo said. "So anyway, I drove to Radio Big again, but by the time I got there, hell had frozen over."

"What do you mean?" Allegra asked, confused.

"The DJ wasn't in his office. Wasn't even in the 'efing building! And they wouldn't tell me where he was, even though I told them over and over again what Skye did to you at the race. They just didn't give a damn."

Allegra thought about that for a moment. "Guess Atomicka isn't going to be of much help, then."

"Nah, he'll listen to us," Viggo assured her. "I think we all gave a good impression in his office the other day. Especially _Skye_." He paused for a moment to make a gagging sound. "I think you're right, Big Al. I think he actually might have been _interested_ in her."

"Yo, then maybe we should just talk to Larry," Mac suggested. "He _is_ the commissioner. And he don't play favorites."

Allegra nodded. "Yeah, that does sound like a better idea. I say we go to him instead. That way we don't have to worry about Atomicka being biased toward Skye."

It took a lot of convincing, but finally Viggo agreed that telling Larry would probably be more productive than telling Atomicka.

"All right," he said. "The Crow's Nest Event is at 11:00, so I say we leave at 7:00 so we have a few hours to get the job done."

"Whatev'," Mac said, standing up. "But I seriously gotta go to bed like _now_. I'm dyin' here, dawg."

"Me too," Allegra said before Viggo could snap at him. "I'll just sleep out here on the couch if that's ok."

Viggo looked like he was about to say something, but before he could, Mac yawned and said, "Cool with me. 'Night, Al. Oh, and uh, congrats. For a rookie you sure kicked some ass out there today."

"Thanks," Allegra said, smiling. "And I guess I need to congratulate you for winning the gold. Or does that happen all the time?"

Mac shrugged. "Happens from time to time. Right now I'm just tryin' to show my superiority up on Peak 1."

The expression on Viggo's face was priceless as he wheeled around to face Mac. "Excuse me?"

Mac looked pleased at the reaction he'd caused. "I'm gonna try and claim Peak 1 as my own, yo," he explained. "I heard Psymon talkin' about claimin' Peak 3-, "

"Nobody's _claiming _anything," Viggo cut him off. "Who the hell started this all up anyway?"

"It was my idea to claim Peak 1, and I guess that's where it started. You should put your claim on Peak 2 'fore somebody else does, dawg."

Now Viggo looked like he was about ready to fight him. "Do the event organizers know this shit is going on?"

"Sure, Atomicka said somethin' about it in his broadcast this morning," Mac said. "Everybody's cool with it."

"Well I'm not," Viggo snapped. "This is so damn _stupid_. The purpose of being in SSX has always been to get the gold in the end."

"Well we ain't on World Tour anymore," Mac argued. "And besides, we need to add somethin' else to make it a lil more fun…"

Allegra could feel her eyes starting to get heavy. She didn't really care about the controversy at hand. If Mac and the others wanted to go around putting claims on the peaks, that was fine with her. In fact, she kind of agreed with Mac on this one. The circuit needed some more competition, and this seemed to be the perfect way to do it.

Somehow, she managed to fall asleep right there on the couch as Mac and Viggo continued to argue.

* * *

The next morning, after Allegra had showered and changed (she'd luckily had some extra clothes along with her board and equipment in the duffel bag) she told the guys that it would probably be best to call Larry and tell them they were coming beforehand.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Viggo agreed. "Wouldn't want to drive all the way out there only to find that he's not in his office. Kind of like what I did yesterday when I went to see Atomicka. Only that dude's almost _always_ in his office. Kinda weird. Makes you wonder what he was doing."

Mac shuttered. "I don't wonder."

"All right, his phone number's in the packet," Allegra said. "Somebody go get theirs. Mine's back at me and Skye's room."

Mac chuckled. "You kiddin' me? I lost mine first day, dawg."

"I'll go get mine," Viggo volunteered, rolling his eyes at Mac's stupidity. "It's kind of hard to lose."

Mac was smiling, as if proud of himself. "Not for me it ain't."

Before Viggo could call him a very nasty name, there was a loud knock on the room door.

Allegra let out an irritated sigh. She already knew who it was, just by the knock.

"Wake up, sleepyheads!" Skye shouted. Her voice seemed to pass right through the door. "Time to rise and shine! We've got a big day ahead of us, mates!"

Mac collapsed onto the couch next to where Allegra was sitting. "Aw hell are you jokin'?" he groaned. "It's 7:30! What's she doin' here _already_?"

"I don't know," Viggo said. He looked more angry than annoyed. "But how the hell are we gonna do this now? She can't be with us when we go to EA!"

"Allie! Mac! Blondie!" Skye was still pounding on the door. "I'm not leavin' til you all get up!"

Just like that, Allegra literally snapped. She sprang down from the couch, her blue eyes seeming to flare as she stomped toward the door.

"Damn, you fix her wagon, Allegra" Mac said, not moving from his spot on the couch.

Viggo, on the other hand, bolted for Allegra, and grabbed her wrist before she could get another step closer to the door.

"What are you _doing_?" he demanded in somewhat of a whisper.

"I'm going to confront her," Allegra replied, still furious. "You might wanna step into the other room, 'cause I'm gonna yell."

Looking relieved, Viggo let her go. "Go right ahead. I was just making sure you weren't gonna fight her. Not that I object, but that would get you suspended, if not kicked off the circuit completely."

"COME ON, MATES! WE'RE BURNIN' DAYLIGHT!" Skye shouted, her voice now seeming 2 times as loud because they were so close to the door.

That made Allegra completely lose it. She unlatched the chain on the room door and yanked it open. She was screaming at the top of her lungs before Skye even had the chance to say one word.

"WOULD YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP? We _know_ what you're up to, you bitch! Enough with the fuking games!"

Skye scowled at her. "What're are you talkin' about, drongo?" she demanded. "Ya know, I half expected you to be in a good mood, 'cause I have no doubt what Blondie said about you falling asleep last night was rubbish. I know you two were pashing on the whole night."

"I don't know what the _fuck_ that means," Allegra yelled. "But you're just trying to avoid the subject and you _know_ it! Tell me, Skye. Have you called Julie back yet? What's the latest? Are you two going to do more sabotage before I can get to the Big Air event today?"

Skye's anger seemed to completely fade after Allegra had said that. Her scowl was replaced with a look of not only shock, but Allegra could have sworn she also saw…shame?

"You all know, then?" she said, looking past Allegra, where Viggo, and now Mac, were standing. "About me, I mean?"

"Yeah, we do," Viggo said. "And we're more than a little pissed, Skye."

Skye sighed, dropping her gaze to the floor. "All right, look. What you've got to understand is-,"

"No, this is what _you_ have to understand," Viggo cut her off. "I look out for Big Al, and she looks out for me. It's kind of like a riding partner thing. And now that I know what you're trying to do to her, you're pretty much done, Miss Simms."

Skye glared at him. "Meaning?"

"What the hell do you _think_ it means? It means I'm going to make sure your ass gets kicked off of this circuit. _Today_, before the event."

Skye grinned almost evilly. If there had been any shame in her face before, it was completely gone now. "And just how are you gonna do _that_?" she challenged him. "You have no proof that I'm of any threat to Allie."

"Oh we're on our way to tell the SSX commissioner right now," Allegra informed her. "That stunt you pulled yesterday before semi finals is plenty of proof. Viggo found all my stuff in _your_ duffel bag."

"And what will _that_ prove?" Skye said, still sneering. "That I put your stuff in my bag? I could say I was just carrying it back to our room for you. Who do you think they'll believe? I'm sorry, Allie, but you've got to face the truth. As of right now there is nothing you can do to prove to Larry, Atomicka or anybody else that I've done anythin' wrong."

Allegra snorted. She was slowly beginning to realize that unfortunately, Skye was right. But she wasn't going to let her know that.

"Whatever. And don't think I don't know that you had something to do with the incident yesterday before the race. You said something to Elise the other day, I _know_ you did. You made it so that she would hate me, and I would have an enemy on the track."

"Actually, that was Julie's handiwork," Skye said somewhat proudly. "I'm not gonna tell you how she did it, but let me just say that won't be the last time that happens. In fact she's on another mission as we speak."

"Bitch, I'm gonna smash yo face in!" Mac snapped, speaking for the first time.

"Come on, Big Al, we're going," Viggo said, taking her hand and pulling her past Skye. "Screw the phone call. We're getting this shit taken care of _now_."

Mac followed them, giving Skye a slight shove as he passed her.

"Good luck!" Skye called after them mockingly, which resulted in a rude, single fingered gesture from Mac.

* * *

When they reached EA Big Headquarters, they were more than relieved to hear that Larry was in the building. However, he was on a conference call, and his secretary told them that it was going to be at least another half-hour before it was over. They sat in 3 chairs that were along the wall right outside his office and waited. Mac was already growing impatient the moment they sat down.

"Seriously dude, who has a conference call at 8:00 in the morning?" he muttered, reaching into one of his pockets and pulling out an MP3 player. "We could be here for _hours_, yo."

"The secretary said a half hour," Viggo said. "Stop whining."

But Mac didn't even hear him. He'd turned the music up too high.

Viggo, who was in the middle, turned to Allegra on his right. "You really think he can't hear us?" he asked her.

"Of course he can't," Allegra said. "I mean could _you_ hear over that?"

It was so loud that Allegra knew exactly what song he was listening to. _Deep End_, by the Swollen Members. She could even tell that it was a re-mixed version.

"No, probably not," Viggo said.

There was a short moment of silence, minus the noise coming from Mac's earphones. Allegra thought a bit about Skye, and how they were going to convince Larry that she needed to be kicked off the circuit. So far though, she couldn't come up with any legitimate proof that she'd stolen her equipment yesterday. She was about to admit this to Viggo, but that's when another thought stopped her.

Yesterday, right before the first round, he'd been about to tell her something. Something important, but then that jackass event organizer had interrupted, forcing them to be quiet. She'd completely forgotten about it until then!

_Well now's the perfect opportunity to ask him, _she thought. _And this time he's not getting out of it._

"Say, Viggo," she said. "You never did finish what you were going to say right before the first race yesterday."

Viggo looked confused. "What're you talking about?"

"We were arguing, and I wanted to know why you hated Mac so much," Allegra reminded him. "And then that event organizer got real pissed and told us to be quiet."

Viggo shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes you do! Come on, Viggo, I know you just don't forget things that easily." She lowered her voice to a whisper, just in case. "Tell me why you hate Mac so much."

Viggo looked to his left. Mac's eyes had actually closed, and he appeared to be asleep, although music was still blaring out of his earphones.

"All right, all right, fine," Viggo said, sighing. "I was gonna tell you this afternoon anyway."

He paused to make sure Mac was still sleeping, although Allegra really knew he just didn't want to look at her.

"I guess he's not so bad in the long run," he finally said. "I mean he's still a dumbass, but that's not the reason why I hate him."

"Yeah," Allegra said. "I kind of figured that out on my own."

Viggo managed a smile. "The reason I hate him is because…"

He sighed again, and looked away. "Well, it's because I like you, Allegra."

Before Allegra could even say one word, the door to Larry's office burst open. It was Larry himself, looking tired and worn out. Allegra figured he'd probably been on that conference call for quite a while. He looked at all three of them individually, but when he got to Allegra, his eyes rested particularly on her.

"Ah, Miss Sauvagess, just the young lady I wanted to see," he said quickly. "Come into my office. We need to have a discussion about you and Miss Riggs."

Allegra couldn't believe this. Had it happened already? Had Julie and Skye carried out the next part of their plan?

"Elise?" she questioned. "What about her?"

Larry looked more than annoyed. "You know very well what I'm talking about," he said. "This is not a game, Miss Sauvagess. It ends_ now_. One more strike, and you are going to face full suspension from this circuit."


End file.
